Harmony
by KashinaKairi
Summary: Centuries of war have torn the four nations apart further than they have ever been. The Avatar was the catalyst for this war, so the spirits took her out of her world. Now Avatar Kori is on an adventure to find her place in Middle Earth. And maybe bring the races together. Weekly updates.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Air Bender(cartoon).

* * *

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

A cold wind blew across the desolate ice fields of the North. Kori smiled as the cold wind tickled over her bare skin and caught the end of her pigtails. She loved the feel of the cold against her chakra warmed skin.

"Kori! Come inside before you freeze." Kori let out a sigh as she turned and ran towards the single tent in the entire area. "Honestly, what is it with you and the cold?" Old Nan tutted as she handed Kori a bowl of hot soup.

"I love the cold Nan. It's in my blood." Kori laughed as she gulped down the piping hot soup. Not minding the burning sensation. Changes in temperatures didn't bother her. Not since she had completed her Avatar training. "So what's going on again? How come I've never heard of Harmonic Convergence before? What do I have to do? Is it going to take a while? What should I-" Kori stopped when Old Nan held up a hand to stop her.

"Harmonic Convergence happens once every century." Old Nan began as she sipped her soup. "It is a time when Chaos and Order fight for dominance."

"So, I'm going to have to fight?" Kori asked as she refilled her bowl. "And I know about Raava and Vaatu being the embodiments of Order and Chaos, but I never knew they had to fight." She frowned as she swirled her soup around. "Old Nan, did Vaatu beat Raava last time?"

"Spirits no." Old Nan spoke harshly. "This war was not caused by them." She smiled at the girl to try and calm her. "Many people have voiced the troubles of an Avatar. Knowing that when one is reborn they do not posses the memories of the previous one. But the White Lotus helped to preserve the history of the Avatar. It was Men that corrupted it and began this war for the Avatar."

Kori nodded as she finished her soup. "I'm going to bed." Kori cleaned her bowl out with snow before crawling into her fur sleeping bag. She took calming breaths to ease her mind. Slowly slipping into the silence of sleep.

Old Nan sighed as she watched Kori sleep. She had been caring for the girl since she was a babe. And now at the age of 18 she was still a handful. Impulsive but a great strategist, hot headed but controlled, and hesitant but firm. So many contradictions put together. But that was her granddaughter, Avatar Kori.

* * *

Kori woke up and stretched loudly as she yawned. She could still hear the wind howling outside, and it was already light outside. "Nan?" She looked around the tent, but Old Nan wasn't inside. She got her boots and coat on before walking out of the tent. She stopped when she spotted Old Nan talking with men on Polar-Dogs.

Old Nan turned and smiled at Kori. "Good morning dear. These men were just wondering what we were doing out here."

"Oh." Kori closed the tent flap and walked over to them. "We were just heading up to North Portal City. Harmonic Convergence is in a week and we wanted to make sure we got there on time. Old Nan here didn't want to take any form of travel other than her own feet." Kori laughed as she finished speaking.

"Funny. She said you were the one not wanting to take any transports." One of the men sneered. "Says you were scared of them."

Kori tensed as she looked over at Nan in fake embarrassment. "Nan!"

Old Nan chuckled as they continued to play their roles. "Is that all Sir? We need to start our journey for the day."

"It's dangerous out here. Wolves everywhere up here." The man gave two signals to his men. They all dismounted. "We will escort you to the city."

"Oh." Old Nan perked up. "That would get us there faster. Although I'm not sure my granddaughter would be comfortable on the Polar-Dogs."

Kori looked over at the animals curiously. One of them whined as it came close to her, giving her a big lick once it was close enough. "I think it will be alright Nan." Kori returned to their tent and helped pack their camp. Once everything was put together and packed onto one of the Polar-Dogs they were off.

It took them an hour to reach the city. It's tall buildings of white and blue stood tall and imposing. They entered one of the underground ports and let them off. "You can go to the entrance center over there to get in." The border officer pointed them towards a large welcome sign. "Enjoy the festival." He gave them one last nod before riding back out into the frozen landscape.

"Well that was lucky." Kori stated as she shrugged on her overly large backpack. "Where to now Nan?" She looked over to see her Nan staring up at a statue. She approached and noticed several other statues lining a long hall. "What is this?"

"Past Avatars." Old Nan spoke as she placed a hand on the base of the statue. "This is Avatar Kavu, he was the last Avatar from the Water Tribes. He died only 55 years ago."

"Wow." Kori spoke out loud. 'A full cycle in a little over half a century.' She thought saddly as they moved down the line of Avatars, but something was wrong. "Why are there only Avatars from the Water Tribe?"

"That's all they want to acknowledge." Old Nan stated as she sopped in front of one particular Avatar. "They only want to show what they controlled. But long ago they didn't control the Avatar. This is Avatar Korra, she was the Avatar over 9,000 years ago. And if history books are to be believed, she is the one that began this war."

"But I thought the war was over." Kori looked up at the statue of her previous incarnation. "What happened back then?"

"Welcome to North Portal City!" Both Kori and Old Nan jumped a bit as they turned. A man dressed in a uniform gave them a large smile. "First time? No worries! We can help you with everything you need. Hotel? Spa? Sled rental? Festival information?"

"Is there a camping ground?" Old Nan asked the man sweetly. "We wanted to be under the stars and watch the Convergence up close."

"Sadly no one but the Avatar is allowed close during the Convergence." The man said as he kept a smile on his face. "But we do have excellent camp grounds with a great view." He led them to the welcome center. "We just need to do a few security checks. I'll need name and birthplace. As well as Bender status."

"Naira, Port City, Northern Water Tribe." Old Nan spoke as she gave the man a smile. "Non-bender."

The man nodded as he looked down at his counter. "Alright. And you my dear?"

Kori could guess what was on his desk, a bowl of fog, a lit candle, a dish of water, and a plate of dirt. "Kori, Port City, Northern Water Tribe. Water-bender." She took calming breaths as she focused on her water bending alone. She had been training for this, to detach herself from the other elements so they could not detect that she could bend them.

The man nodded as he checked his desk once more. "Alright. Everything checks out. Welcome to North Portal." He handed them a map and a guide book with a smile. "Enjoy the festival."

Kori gave the man a smile as she and Old Nan walked out into the vast under-ice city. Kori let out a breath as she wiped her forehead. "That was close. But Nan, I did it." She gave her grandmother a wide smile as she contained her excitement.

Old Nan gave Kori a smile. "I'm proud of you. Now let's go set up camp."

Kori gave Nan a nod as she opened up the map. "Looks like it's this way." She led her grandmother through the crowd and down many lanes till they came to a second port. "It says the shuttles to the camp ground are located on the east wall." She scanned the wall and smiled as she saw the sign for Light's Campground.

"Welcome! Here for the Harmonic Convergence Festival?" An enthusiastic little girl asked them happily as they made their way to her desk. She got a nod form them both and jumped over the desk. "Well then your in luck. First 20 people to rent a lot for the entire festival gets half price."

"That's awesome!" Kori smiled as she pulled out her money purse. "We just need a large sight. And we want a clear view of the Convergence."

"Well, I've got plenty of openings." The girl walked around her desk and pointed to a map. "Let's take a look." She pointed towards several open campsites. "These are all of the large sites. And these ones would give you the best view."

Kori looked at the map, there were only two occupied camp sites. "People don't camp much anymore huh?" She noticed a sad look cross the little girl's eyes. "We'll take this one." Kori pointed to the one in the very center. "And we won't pay less than top dollar for it."

The little girl looked at Kori with astonishment. "Really?! You don't have to!"

Kori shook her head as she pulled out the money. "You need it more than we do." She gave the little girl a wink as she set the money down. "Lot 24 right?"

The little girl nodded as she counted out the money and marked off the spot. "Thank you miss."

"The name's Kori. And your welcome." Kori turned away from the girl and walked down the hall to head towards the camp ground. She looked back at her grandmother, Nan was giving her a large smile. "What?"

"You are always spoiling children." Nan chuckled as she followed behind her granddaughter.

Kori shrugged as she kept walking. They stepped out into the cold air and kept going as they began to pass lot numbers. The two occupied sites were near the entrance. "At least this gets us closer to the site of the Spirit Portal."

They soon reached their designated lot and set up their tent fully. As they traveled they only set up the main tent area. Now that they would be staying for longer, they could set up more of it. When it was done, it had it's large main tent for gatherings and eating, it's smaller tent for the bathing room and another one attached for the outhouse, two more tents for the sleeping areas, and halls connecting them all.

Kori sighed as she laid back in her sleeping bag in her room. She hadn't set it up since they left Port City almost 2 weeks ago. She loved her Nan, but she looked forward to spending time alone. Taking a deep breath, she focused on the spirit energy around her. She focused on it and felt around for the other sources around her, they were few and weak.

Kori opened her eyes and smiled. 'Perfect.' She silently put outer clothes back on and snuck outside. It was dark, so it was easy to sneak. She slowly made her way towards the pillar that was the Nothern Spirit Portal.

She wasn't surprised to find it guarded, but she was shocked it was guarded so lightly, only one guard ever ten feet or so. She gave a stomp and smiled as she got a map of the entire layout. There was a small forest around the portal, and there was no one within the fenced area. She looked around her, trying to find a way in, but the only way in would be by tunneling. "I was hoping not to get dirty."

Kori let out a small complain before pulling her body into a tight spin, drilling into the earth with her bending. She continued to twist and spin as she directed herself towards the portal. Once she was past the fence and into the small forest, she aimed up to the surface. "Dirt." Kori complained before she shook off as much dirt as she could, then used water to wash the rest off.

A smile spread across her face as she looked over at the bright pillar of light before her, the Northern Spirit Portal. "I'm coming Raava." She spoke to herself as she walked into the light, temporarily being blinded. AS her vision returned and the light dimmed, she found herself surrounded by a lush green field. Colorful spirit creatures flew around her. "Hello everyone." Kori smiled as multiple spirits flocked to her. "Where is Raava?"

"Here child." Kori looked up as the majestic Spirit of Order descended towards her. "It is almost time."

"Yes." Kori stated as she walked up to the white spirit. "But why haven't you told me about Harmonic Convergence? I know what it is, but I don't know what to do."

"Fear not little one." Raava spoke calmly as she wrapped herself around the Avatar. "All will be well." Raava floated away from the girl. "Come, I wish to show you where we shall meet for the Convergence."

Kori followed the spirit across the field of grass and over hills. Soon it all gave way to a single barren valley. Two Spirit Portals stood at opposing ends of the circular valley with a third in the very center. The Southern Yellow Portal and the Northern Blue Portal stood at their sides while the mixed Blue and Yellow Portal of Republic City stood at the very center.

"That is where we shall meet Vaatu and decide whether Darkness or Light shall rule the next century." Raava floated down into the valley. Kori followed close behind her. "Vaatu has yet to choose his champion, but he will choose one he feels will defeat you. You are the first Avatar to reach maturity in centuries."

"Since Avatar Zara 500 years ago." Kori had read the history books and the Avatar Log. Most Avatars, after her, only reached their 13th birthday before being killed. But it was more common nowadays for an Avatar to be killed before they even reached the age of 5, when they first discover their bending abilities. "And with Avatar Korra losing connection with the Avatar incarnations before her, there is only the dozen or so after her and then all of the children after Zara. Not exactly a lot of experience to go off of."

"But Korra is strong and wise. As was Zara and all the Avatars between them." Raava turned to Kori and lifted Kori's chin with a ridden of her's. "You are very much like Avatar Korra, but you are also so much different than her. Forge your own path, Kori. No matter where you go." With that said, Raava touched the end of her ribbon to Kori's forehead.

Kori gasped as her sight went white. She couldn't see anything, hear anything, or feel anything. She tensed as her hair stood up on ends. Slowly she calmed herself down, Raava would never do something to harm her.

As soon as her senses were taken from her, they returned. And Kori found herself falling. "Ah!" Kori screamed before she landed in a pool of water. Kori surfaced and took a large breath as she made her way to the shore. "What the heck?" Kori got out of the pool and looked around her curiously, but it only confused her more. "Where am I?"

All around Kori were white arches and flowing trees. She was not in the North anymore. But this was also not the Spirit world, she could feel her connection to her elements, but not as strong as when she entered the Spirit world through the Northern Portal. And none of the architect looked like anything she had ever seen before.

"Hello my dear." Kori spun around and was surprised to find someone dressed in all grey standing before her. "I do not believe I know you. And I know many people with complexion such as yours. So who are you, might I ask?"

Kori bent the water off of her before she faced the tall grey man with her hands on her hips and a smile on her lips. "My name is Kori. Might I ask where I am?" Kori eyed the man as he gave her a smile and a curious look.

"You are in Rivendale, Kori. Have you more to your name?" The man asked as he eyed the young woman before him. "I promise no harm will come to you."

"And who is making that promise. I don't even know your name." Kori eyed the man, his aura told her she could trust him, but he seemed like the secretive sort. "And it's a title, Avatar." She noticed him mull over what she had told him as she looked around once more. "Rivendale you say? Is that in the Earth Kingdom? I haven't been everywhere there yet. And I know the Fire Nation has no place close to this. It's either mountains, beaches, or thick forests."

"I don't know about any Earth Kingdom, Avatar Kori. This is Middle Earth. And I am Gandalf the Grey." Gandalf spoke as the woman tilted her head at him. "What has brought you here, if I might ask?"

"You like asking to ask things." Kori pointed out as she crossed her arms. "And I'm not even sure how I got here. I was talking with Raava and-" Kori stopped herself. "Raava sent me here."

"And who is this Raava?" Gandalf asked.

"Mithrandir? Who is it you are speaking with?" Gandalf turned and smiled as the Lord of Rivendale approached them. "Hello, I am Lord Elrond."

Kori stared at the man before shaking her head and giving the man a bow. "Avatar Kori."

"Avatar is an interesting name." Elrond could not place where she might be from. Her complexion pointed south of Mordor, but her light told him she was from no such dark place.

Kori snorted a laugh behind her hand. "Sorry." She apologized before schooling her features. "Avatar is my title. It's what they call me back in my home."

"And where would you be from?" Lord Elrond asked as he looked from the young woman to the wizard and back.

"I'm from the Northern Water Tribe. But I'm guessing you have never heard of such a place." Kori scratched the back of her head nervously.

"So you are a traveler then?" Gandalf asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Kori was a bit worried about the man's look, Old Nan had that look a few times. It never ended as expected. "I guess that would describe it best." She looked back over to Lord Elrond. "Sorry for dropping in unannounced."

"That is quite alright, Avatar Kori. Welcome to Rivendale." Lord Elrond gave the woman a smile. "Might I ask what being the Avatar entails?"

"Sure. The Avatar is someone that is meant to help others and keep the peace. It also means I have mastery over all of the bending elements." Kori faltered a little as they raised their eyebrows at her. "Have you ever heard of bending?"

"I'm afraid the only bending we are aware of is bending objects into shapes with force." Gandalf explained. "But I am presuming the bending you speak of is different."

Kori gave the man a nod. "It is. It would probably be best to show you." Kori cracked her knuckles as she stretched. "Water is my native element." Kori reached behind her and pulled a fairly small amount of water out of the pool, it was only enough to fill one glass. "This is water bending." She bent the water into an continuos loop till it made a knot as it flowed. She let out a breath and froze the water in it's knotted state. She let the knot drop into her open hand and tossed it to Lord Elrond.

Lord Elrond caught the knot of water and examined it. No carver could repeat this in such details. "Extraordinary."

Kori laughed at the man's stunned expression. "And that is only one of four elements. Well, five if you count spirit bending."

"I may have need of your skills." Gandalf spoke abruptly.

Kori perked up. "I would be more than happy to help. I haven't been able to help people in a long long time."

"Do your people have no need for an Avatar?" Lord Elrond asked, regretting as a sad expression crossed the woman's face.

"Not in the way I wish I was needed." Kori looked up at the two men with a sobered expression. "My world has been at war. The four nations are out of balance. All because they all want the Avatar to be the general of their army and give them power over the world. At least, whatever will be left of it."

"Has war followed you here?" Lord Elrond asked cautiously. He did not wish to submit his people to another period of bloodshed.

Kori held her hands up as a non-threatening gesture. "No no no no no. I doubt anyone can follow me here. Spirits maybe, but not anyone else." She lowered her hands when she saw both men relax. "I was trying to prepare for Harmonic Convergence, but I was sent here instead."

"What is this Harmonic Convergence?" Gandalf asked, having never heard of such a thing.

"It's an event that happens once every 10,000 years in my world." Kori began to explain. "It's when the Spirit of Chaos and the Spirit of Order battle to see who shall rule the next 10,000 years. And since the Spirit of Order is fused with my own spirit, I am part of the Harmonic Convergence."

"Your spirit is fused with another?" Gandalf frowned as he examined the young woman again. And indeed there was a second spirit within her, put it was also part of her. He chuckled seeing Kori shrug, most likely not knowing how to explain herself. "You are most certainly a complicated person, Avatar Kori."

Kori chuckled with the old wizard. "Trying to explain what the Avatar is to someone from another world was never in my job description. But I'm a rather simple person." She gripped her hands behind her back and rolled onto her heels. "I'm not too picky about food, I love food. I'm a very patient and understanding listener when it comes to conflicts, but I won't hesitate to help someone in need."

"Admirable traits." Gandalf looked from the Avatar to the elf Lord. "Would it be alright if she stayed here a while? Until I return?"

"Of course." Lord Elrond spoke to his old friend. "May I ask where you are going? Last journey you took kept you away for a few decades."

Gandalf laughed seeing Kori's worried face. "Just too see an old friend. I should be gone no more than a month or two." He laid a hand on Kori's shoulder to draw her attention. "I will see you again soon. And I will be needing your help."

Kori gave the old man a smile. "I'll be waiting." Kori gave him a bow, which he returned before he walked away. Kori turned her attention to Lord Elrond. "Thank you for allowing me to stay. If there is anything I can help with?"

"It is a pleasure to have you stay, Lady Kori." Elrond motioned for her to follow him.

Kori giggled a bit at having been called a lady. "Avatar Kori sounds better. I am far from a lady. Besides, I don't think ladies dance the way I do."

"You dance?" Lord Elrond examined the girl once more. He could see the muscles that shaped her figure. But she held herself more like a warrior than a dancer.

Kori nodded at her host's question. "It helps with my bending. Especially my water and fire bending. Earth bending is a bit more rigid, and air is more about being quick than complex movements. But they both have dances as well. I just haven't worked out the details enough to teach them." Kori nimbly followed the tall man up a flight of stairs.

"You are a dance teacher." Elrond stated as he led them through the halls of his home. "I would very much like to see you dance, as well as your bending."

"I would love to show you. It's been a while since I have danced though. So please forgive me if I'm not that good." Kori stopped beside Elrond in front of a door. "What's behind the door?"

"You room." Elrond pushed the doors opens and allowed Kori to enter the room. "There is a bathing room with a wash basin and tub beyond that door. There are dresses in the wardrobe. And if you require any assistance or have any request, please feel free to ask. You are my guest, Avatar Kori."

Kori was in awe at the room. It looked to be made of marble, everything. "Thank you, Lord Elrond." Kori gave the elf a bow before he turned and left as well. Kori bit her lip as she explored her room. The bathing room was also made of white marble, and just as stunning as the bedroom. And the dresses were the most beautiful Kori had ever seen. "This is going to be quite an adventure."

* * *

And so it begins. So just for those who haven't kept track, Kori is the avatar about 9,900 years after Korra, as in after she left through the spirit portal with Asami. I'm assuming she spent time in the spirit world before dying and her spirit being reincarnated. But more info on that later on. And also, due to the war, technology and civilization has been reversed a bit, since none of the nations are on good terms and want to conquer each other. They still know about technology and other things, but they don't have the resources to make or utilize them.

Let me know what you think about the story idea I have begun to put to words.


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Air Bender.

* * *

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

Kori stretched as she awoke to a rising sun and singing birds. It had been a few weeks since she had arrived in Middle Earth. She had filled her time with reading books from the library and partying with the elves. It wasn't anything like the parties back home, but they had endless supplies of wine.

Kori got out of bed and made her way to the wardrobe in her room. She had kept a few dresses, but she couldn't always wear dresses. She had several pairs of leggings and tunics to wear with them, but that wasn't her favorite clothes. Her favorite was something she had asked someone to make for her. Pants that had two layers, one that was a legging and another over top that was sheer and wispy that tied at her ankles. And the top that went with it crossed over her front, leaving her shoulder and stomach exposed. Apparently it was scandalous here, but she wasn't too worried.

"Blue today." Kori pulled out a pair of navy blue flowing pants and a sky blue cross top. She brought them with her as she went to the bathroom to wash for the day. It didn't take her long to bathe and dry off, bending helped. And soon she was dressed for the day.

"Good Morning Avatar Kori." Kori waved as many of the elves greeted her. She greeted back the ones she knew by name and waved back to the others.

Soon she was alone and by a large oak tree. She laid her hand on the tree and centered herself, sitting down as she expanded her mind and senses. She knew where everyone was in Rivendale, the earth told her. The air told her of good weather to come for that day. Kori let out a breath as her senses returned to her, no sign of Gandalf.

Kori got up from her position and decided to go training. She took one step and paused. Her bare feet communicating with the earth, telling her of someone approaching. Kori looked and spotted Lord Elrond walking down from a pavilion. 'He feels heavier. Wonder why he is wearing armor?' Kori asked as she turned and faced the elf Lord. "Good morning Lord Elrond. Are you going somewhere?"

"Good Morning Avatar Kori." Lord Elrond gave the young woman a small bow of his head. She had more than earned his respect in the short time that she was in his home. "Our scouts have spotted an Orc pack running around. We are going to exterminate them."

"Orc?" Kori asked curiously, she had never heard of such a thing. "I don't think I have reached any books on the subject yet."

"We don't have many books on them. It is common knowledge, if you are from this world." Lord Elrond added to his statement as he remembered Kori's origin. "They are vile creatures of darkness. All they seek is the destruction of the world for their master." Lord Elrond spotted his Guard Captain near the Gate Path. "I will return shortly. My children can help you if you require anything."

Kori gave the elf a smile. "Be safe out there. There are people waiting for you."

Elrond was a bit surprised at the lady's request. She spoke as if she had someone who did not return. He gave her a nod in reply. "I shall." With that said he walked away from the young woman who had surprised him once more.

Kori watched as the man walked off to go fight Orcs. She looked away as the greenery around her flashed to the snowy plaines of the North Pole. She turned and headed for the training grounds. Pulling her hair out of their long pigtails and braided them back in a single braid.

"Deep breath." Kori spoke as she centered herself once more. "Feel the earth beneath you. Center yourself on the now." She pushed one foot in front of her and swept it back. "The past is long gone, the future is just ahead of you." She spun her hands in front of her, creating a sphere of air in her hands.

She leaned forwards and fell down onto the sphere. Slowly she steadied herself and stood on the sphere with her hands supporting her on top of it. She pushed off the ball and launched herself into the air, controlling her ascent with the air around her. Then once more to control her descent.

Kori landed on the ground and spun as she moved away from where she touched down. Her attention was drawn to a very interesting discovery, there were new people in the valley. And they weren't elves. Kori had memorized what elves felt like, and these ones felt a little bit heavier, but their steps were large and frequent. "What is that?" She stomped on the ground to get a better read on the valley ground. And up a mountain path were 15 new sets of feet. Two of them did not feel like the other 13, or each other.

Kori made her way towards the main hall and towards the east bridge. She rounded the corner and stopped when she caught sight of the group of travelers. Gandalf was easy to spot, he was taller than herself, but his companions barely even reached his waist. Seeing Gandalf smile at her she tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ears as she made her way down the steps. "Welcome back Gandalf. I was wondering if you forgot."

"I may look old, Avatar Kori, but my memory is excellent." Gandalf spoke as he greeted the young lady. "You look well."

"I have been well." Kori looked from the wizard to the rest of his group. They were all looking at her curiously. "Who are your companions? And what are they?" Kori tensed realizing she spoke her mind. "I am so sorry. I did not mean to sound rude and I meant no offense. I've just never seen anyone like any of you." Kori grumbled as it continued to sound rude. "Nan would have my tongue on a soap stone after my first question."

"That does not sound pleasant." One of the short men with bright red hair spoke up with a chuckle. "And no offense taken lass. Truth be told, we've never seen anyone like you either. Is your skin normally that dark?"

Kori cracked a smile at the man's comment. "It is. Most frequent comment so far has been that I should bathe more often."

Gandalf cleared his throat to get Kori's attention. "They are Dwarves, my dear."

"Oh. None of those back home." Kori took a step back to face Gandalf a bit more. She perked up and turned to the bridge. She had picked up the feeling of horse hooves heading their way. "Lord Elrond is on his way back."

Gandalf frowned at the woman's statement. "How do you know that?"

"I can feel it through the earth beneath my feet." Kori looked down and wiggled her toes. "That is why I do not wear shoes." She looked back over the bridge as horses rounded the corner and thundered across the bridge.

Kori moved out of their way and stood by Gandalf as Lord Elrond rode up to them. "Mithrandri, welcome back. Our scouts spotted a pack of orcs. They were curiously close to the secret passage. As though something drew them there."

"I'm afraid that may have been us." Gandalf spoke as he gave the elf lord a bow of his head.

Lord Elrond gave Gandalf a knowing look before turning his attention to the woman in their midst. "Hello Avatar Kori."

"Welcome back, Lord Elrond." Kori gave the lord a bow of her head and a smile. "Looks like you have more guests. And more people to accompany us to dinner."

"And so it seems." Elrond looked from Kori to the dwarves. "You should go and ready yourself for dinner. I shall see to our new guests."

"And perhaps I shall dance tonight." Kori smiled as she looked towards the dwarves. They looked tense and angry at being around elves. "Perhaps a bit of fire dancing tonight."

"I believe a different element would be better." Gandalf suggested to the young woman.

Kori eyed the wizard. "I can not do earth, it would ruin the marble. Water threatens to dampen the mood and air causes far too much problems with food. So that leaves fire. And so dance with fire I shall." Kori left it at that and turned away from the two men. As she reached the stairs she looked to the dwarves and gave them a smile before she climbed the stairs. She needed to properly tie her hair and change the color of her clothes.

* * *

Kori had a smile on her face as she walked through the halls of Rivendale. She could hear music float through the halls as she made her way to the dinning pavilion. Her red puffy pants and red halter top hugged her body and red sheer silk floated around her hips and over her arms. And her hair was tied back into a traditional topknot of the Fire Nation, one of the easiest styles to recreate.

She rounded the corner and gave a smile to the many dwarves that were seated at the table. At the high table was Lord Elrond, Gandalf, and one of the other dwarves. She noticed Lord Elrond stand and face her as she looked over at him. "Good evening Lord Elrond."

"Good evening Avatar Kori." Lord Elrond gave the lady a small bow of his head as she made her way over to their table.

Kori walked around and looked at all of the dwarves. "Good evening to you all. I apologize for not introducing myself earlier. I am Avatar Kori, at your service." She gave them a small bow of her head as she introduced herself.

A dwarf with bright white hair greeted her in return. "It is pleasant to meet you, Avatar Kori. I am Balin, at your service. May I ask what the title Avatar means?"

"Of course you may." Kori gave the dwarf a smile. "Avatar means I have mastery over all of the bending elements." The dwarves nodding as she answered. "In return, may I ask you what dwarves do? I'm afraid I am uneducated about other races and cultures of Middle Earth. I have not been here long."

"Is that so?" Balin asked. "Well, dwarves do a great many things. But we are most known for mining and creating great works of metal, stone, and gems."

"That sounds amazing." Kori stated as she looked at all of the dwarves. Many of them were smiling with pride.

"We are also great warriors." A dwarf spoke up. His bald head and rough demeanor told Kori that he was probably a warrior, and proud of it.

"That as well." Balin added while looking to the dwarf beside him. "But other races also have warriors."

The bald dwarf shook his head as he crossed his arms. "All Dwarves are warriors."

"Dwalin, I am trying to make it simple for the lass." Balin said as he looked over at the dwarf once more.

Kori bit her lip trying not to laugh at their little argument. "Thank you for being considerate, Master Balin. Middle Earth is certainly more complicated than my home. But I have grown up there, not here."

"Where do you come from?" Kori looked over to the dwarf that had no beard.

"I come from The Northern Water Tribes. But you probably haven't heard of that." Kori chewed her lip as she tried to think of how to explain her home to the simply.

"Is it just far in the north?" The same dwarf asked curiously.

Kori shook her head. "Much further I'm afraid. And more complicated than that." She saw everyone looking to her expecting an explanation. "I come from a much different world than this. And I know that because I have been almost everywhere in my world, and I have never seen any place like this."

"Wow, that's amazing." The black haired, beardless dwarf spoke happily.

"Kili." Everyone looked to the dwarf sitting by Lord Elrond. He was giving Kili a look that told him not to speak another word. "That's enough."

"But Thorin, there is another world out there." Kili spoke as he sat back in his chair. "I wish I could see it."

"Maybe in a few years." Kori said as she sat down across from Balin. "Right now there is a war going on. And I doubt you all would be able to defend yourself against the warriors of my world." She rolled her eyes as many of the dwarves raised their voice in disagreement.

"You underestimate us." Thorin spoke as he watched the dark skinned woman. "Dwarves are fierce warriors in battle."

"I do not doubt that, Master Dwarf. But do you know what a bender is?" Kori asked as she picked up a cherry tomato and tossed it into her mouth.

Thorin eyed the girl again. She held herself confidently and proudly, like a warrior. But she was not built like a warrior. "I understand the gist of the term."

"No, you don't." Kori said as she stood up once more. "Let me show you." Kori stepped onto her chair and launched herself over the table with a flip, aided by the air around her. She touched down and walked a few more steps before stopping.

The music changed from it's airy and lofty sound to a more fierce and foreboding sound. Kori extended one arm to the side, a single wisp of fire running down her skin till it danced in her downward facing palm. She let the ball fall to the floor before stopping it and spinning it around as if it was on a string. She turned back towards them as she continued to spin the ball of fire around her. She spun it up towards her face and caught it with her other hand. She fell forward, landing on the fireball, and balanced herself with one hand on the fireball. With her other hand she spun herself around on her fireball till it shrunk and her hand touched the ground. Once her hand touched the ground she twisted onto her back and kept spinning as fire shot out of the ends of her feet. After a few spins she pushed herself up to her feet and spun till she faced the dwarves. She brought her hands up to her mouth and blew fire out from between them. Before the fire got anywhere close to the dwarves she sucked it back into her mouth. She smirked at the dwarves' shocked faces as smoke came out of her mouth and nose, blocking her from their view.

The smoke cleared and the Avatar was not where she had been before. "That," The dwarves turned to see Kori leaning by the window of the pavilion. "Is but a small glimpse of what a fire-bender is capable of."

Gandalf was very much surprised by what Kori was capable of doing. "I can see why you are called a master."

Kori chuckled from her place. "I have spent my entire life training and mastering the elements. After a little more than 15 years, I believe being a master is quite an accomplishment."

"How old are you?" Kori looked towards the non-dwarf Gandalf had brought with him.

Kori gave the man a shrug. "18. I'm still considered rather young by my people. Saying I should be looking for a husband, not being a warrior." Kori noticed a few of the dwarves had a frightened look on their faces when she said her age. "Is 18 considered young around here?"

"Among most races." Gandalf stated as he pulled out his smoking pipe. "But for someone of the race of Men, it is rather old actually. Most women are married at the age of 15, and have their first child before they turn 17."

Kori felt her mouth drop in shock. "That sounds like hell."

"Ladies should not curse." Kori shot Thorin an annoyed look while he glared at her.

"I am not a lady." Kori crossed her arms as she straightened. "I am the Avatar, master of Water, Earth, Fire, and Air." She noticed many of the dwarves still had some fear in their eyes, but a couple had only curious eyes. "If you will excuse me, I am retiring for the night." Kori gave them a bow as she turned and walked out of the room.

* * *

So we got to see a bit of what Kori can do. More to come later on. Please leave a comment and let know what you think of the story so far.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

* * *

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

Kori was up at dawn the next day, as usual. Today she was dressed in a pair of green leggings and a lighter green tank top she had had one of the seamstresses make for her. She walked around the halls of Rivendale till she reached the door to the forest garden. She happily made her way into the forest.

Kori walked through the forest till she reached a small clearing. In the center of the clearing was a pond of crystal clear water. She had found this spot a few weeks ago, it was a perfect atmosphere to practice her water bending.

Kori reached to the pond and pulled out a hand sized drop of water. She pulled it towards her and ran it over her hands. She began throwing it away from her and pulling it back, stepping out of the way so it missed her and was sent flying away once more. Kori continued till she heard a branch break. Her instincts kicked in and she sent the water ball at the sound, freezing it into a sharp projectile. She stopped the icicle before it hit it's target. "You should not sneak up on me, Master Dwarf." Kori looked behind her to see three dwarves staring at the shard of ice before them.

"M-m-my a-a-apologies, Lady Kori." The dwarf stammered out as he fixed his hat. "We-we-we were just w-w-wo-wondering what you were d-d-doing."

Kori sighed as she melted the ice and replaced the water into the pond. "Avatar Kori, Master Dwarf. And I was practicing my water-bending." She looked back over and saw the other two dwarves were staring in fascination. "I'm afraid I never got the chance to hear all of you names yesterday, except for Kili's."

Kili smiled as he stepped out from behind Bofur. "Your abilities are amazing, Avatar Kori." Kili pulled his brother beside him. "This is my brother, Fili. And one of our many friends and traveling companions, Bofur." All three dwarves gave the Avatar a bow.

Kori smiled as she returned their bow. "Pleasure." She looked up and noticed that the sun must have been up for at least an hour now. "Breakfast should be served soon. Would you like to join me?"

"Or you could join us?" Kili questioned with a smile. "I'm sure the others won't mind."

"Thorin will." Fili muttered under his breath.

Kori laughed as Kili shot his brother a look for what he had said. She noticed Bofur chewing on his lip in worry. "If the others don't want me around I can just go have breakfast on my own." Kili looked at her with the most hurt looking face, like if you kicked a baby polar-dog. "I guess we can go see if it is okay."

"Great!" Kili led the way towards where the dwarves had settled for the night, one of the larger pavilions. "Morning! Kori tagged along." He greeted everyone happily.

"More like Kili guilted me along." Kori leaned against one of the pillars as the other dwarves looked towards her. Some were still fearful of her, but most were curious, and a few angry. "If you don't want me here I can leave."

"Stay." Thorin spoke from his spot by the fire. He looked over at the dark skinned woman. "Gandalf means for you to join us. I do not see how a woman can help, but you certainly have skills that would be useful to us. Even if you are but a child."

"I am not a child." Kori pushed herself off of the pilar and walked towards the fire. "But, thank you for telling me what Gandalf neglected to tell me. Does he usually keep things to himself.

"YES." Everyone spoke in an annoyed voice. It seemed the wizard had done it to them quite often.

"I still don't see how dancing around with a little fireball can be called fighting." The tattooed dwarf spoke as he eyed the young woman. She was skinny and had few muscles, she had muscles, but they weren't large.

"Dwalin." Balin hissed at his brother, but his warning was lost.

"I am a fighter, Master Dwarf." Kori narrowed her eyes at the dwarf. He reminded her of her earth-bending teacher, hard headed and unwilling to change. "If you want to find out how good of a fighter I am, then how about we take this outside?" Kori noticed a few of the others still as her opponent smirked. "I'll even let you chose what element I use."

"Done." Dwalin spoke as soon as she shut her mouth. He picked up his axe and followed her out of the pavilion. "So, what are my choices?"

Kori smiled as she focused herself. "Fire." She punched beside her, sending a fireball off of her fist. "Air." Using her other arm, she sent a wind blast at Dwalin. "Water." She pulled water out of the ground and froze it solid before letting it drop. "Earth." She took a step to the side, bringing up a pillar of earth, and kicked it with her other foot, toppling it. "Your choice."

"Air." Dwalin spoke as he spun his axe around. "My win if you use any of the others. No cheating."

Kori settled into a loose stance. "Wouldn't dream of it."

The air tensed as the two stared at each other. Dwalin let out a cry as he swung at the woman. Kori jumped over the dwarf and sent another air blast his way. This one was stronger than the one she had demonstrated, thus off balancing the dwarf. Dwalin easily corrected himself and attacked once more. Kori created disks of air in front of her hands and was deflecting attacks from her shorter opponent.

The other dwarves stared on in fascination. They frowned as the battle turned and forced Dwalin to defend more than attack. "The difference in power is obvious." Thorin commented as he watched. Kori may not be used to fighting dwarves, but she was used to fighting stronger opponents, benders. "She is a warrior."

"Aye. That she is." Balin commented as he nodded. His brother may be a strong warrior, but Kori easily matched him with her own skills. "And Dwalin respects her for that. She meets him as a warrior, not holding back." The rest of the dwarves nodded as Kori sent another gust of wind at Dwalin, knocking him off of his feet.

"That's enough!" Thorin called out to the two warriors. "I see you were not lying when you spoke of your skills."

"I don't lie, Master Thorin. Just stretch the truth when needed." Kori rested her hands on her hips as she caught her breath, Dwalin was a tough opponent. "So, am I welcomed on your quest?"

"Yep." Dwalin spoke as he walked past the young woman. "You're not an elf, your welcomed around here."

Kori nodded as she pulled her hair out of her single braid and tied it up in a ponytail. "Good to know." Kori then pulled water up from the ground and wrapped it around her hand. She then pressed her cooled hand against the back of her neck and her forehead. "Next time, can I have a different opponent?"

The dwarfs laughed at her question for a bit. Then Dwalin gave her an answer. "Now you get to train with me for the rest of the journey." The Avatars face fell before she burst out laughing with the rest of the dwarves.

* * *

Kori was antsy to get begin her new adventure with the company of dwarves. Before dawn, she was dressed in her Water Tribe clothes once more, jacket on instead of tied around her waist. And her hair was in it's usual pigtail style. Kori was tapping her bare foot against the ground, rapidly checking to see if the dwarves were moving yet.

Kori's foot stilled when the dwarves began to move around. Some getting up and starting breakfast, others waking up the ones still asleep or packing. She then began pacing as she waited for them to join her at the side gate they had told her to meet them at.

It was another half hour before the dwarves finally arrived. "How long have you been standing here lass?" Balin asked as they walked passed Kori.

Kori shrugged as she started walking beside the white haired dwarf. "Only for an hour or so. I couldn't sleep." Kori said as she tried to think of the last time she had slept for more than 3 hours. It must have been back before she started her bending training. Before her father explained that she was the Avatar. "I don't really sleep anymore."

Kori followed the dwarves as they made their way out of the valley of Rivendale. Kori looked back at the elven city then out at the vast world beyond the valley. "Time to see the world." Kori walked past Bilbo, having learned his name the previous day she had spent with the company. "Come on Bilbo, we will see it again." Bilbo gave her a nod as they both followed the company out of the valley of the elves.

Kori took in the view of the world around her as she walked and memorized the path beneath her feet. She also kept an eye on the movements around them, since they didn't send out any scouts too far ahead. And she could see for leagues ahead of them and around them. There was nothing out there, only a few animals behind them and paying them no mind.

As they came closer to a range of mountains, Kori began to notice hollows in the ground beneath her. "Are there tunnels in those mountains?" She looked over at Dori as she asked her question.

"Of course!" Dori exclaimed as they neared the Misty Mountains. "The Misty Mountains mark a great Dwarven city, Moria. Although no dwarves live there."

"Why not?" Kori asked curiously. Reading history was one thing, but hearing it from someone of that culture was the best way to learn. At least that was Kori's opinion.

"A great beast of darkness cast us out." Dori said as he looked up at the young human. "Now orcs and goblins desecrate our halls."

Kori frowned thinking of the air temples that raiders and pirates occupied. Even after centuries of the air nomads being restored, they refused to leave the sacred temples. "One day they will feel your wrath." She gave the dwarf a small smile before she picked up her pace and caught up with Thorin. "There's a stream up ahead and a forest nearby with wildlife. We get into rougher terrain after that."

Thorin looked towards the young woman with confusion. "How do you know that? Have you been this way before?"

"Nope." Kori said as she fixed her pack on her back. "I can feel it through the earth by using my earth-bending." Thorin nodded at her explanation. "Sun will be down in a couple hours as well." She noticed Dwalin this time looking at her questioningly. "Fire-bending connects me to the sun. I can tell time pretty accurately."

"Right. We're stopping up ahead for the night." Thorin called out as they came around a bend. There coming down from the mountains was a clean running stream with a forest off to the side. It was just as Kori had said. "The sight through your feet is very accurate."

"Thank you." Kori smiled as she set her pack down by a rock. She stomped on the ground, creating a curved seat into the earth. "And my bed is made."

"Don't you want a blanket?" Kili asked as he looked at the strange earthen bed their female companion had created for herself.

Kori shook her head as she took off her sweater and set it down by her pack. "My chi keeps me very warm. Plus I grew up in a land covered in ice and snow. Piss froze before it even hit the snow back home. This is warmer than summer for me." Kori laughed as some of the dwarves cringed a bit at her language. "I already told you all, I'm not a lady. So I won't be talking like one."

"Well you are a lady." Ori said as he set his pack down by Kori's 'bed'. "And no lady should say piss."

"Is urine better?" Kori laughed as Ori sighed heavily and Oin chuckled. "It's the medically correct term." She justified as she turned and walked over to Bomber and Bilbo that were trying to get a fire going. "Can I help?"

"Yes please." Bomber said as he sat back from trying to light the fire. The flint was not sparking.

Kori snapped her finger and held the small flame to the pile of wood in the pit that had been dug. The wood caught and Kori gently nudged the fire till it was crackling happily. "There we go, it's happy and healthy."

"You speak as if it is alive." Bilbo commented as he began pulling ingredients out of bags for their meal.

"In a way it is." Kori reached into the fire and pulled a small flame out that sat in her palm. "Fire has always been a symbol for new life in the Fire Nation. For the others it was fear and death, but for those that lived with it all their lives, it was a part of them. Even while learning fire-bending I was scared, but once I held a pure flame in my hand I couldn't fear it. It's warm and fragile, like a baby. It grows into what you make it to be."

"Fire consumes everything." Kori turned her attention to Thorin as he spoke. He was staring at the fire in the girl's hands. "All it brings is death and pain. Remember that, Avatar." He turned away from the girl. "Kili, Fili, find us some meat."

Kori looked down at the small flame in her hand before tossing it back into the larger fire beside her. "I'm going to refill my water pouch."

"Can you fill up the rest of the skins as well lass?" Bomber asked as he pointed to a pile of water skins. "It would be a big help."

"Of course, Bomber." Kori got up and collected the pile of water skins before she collected her large water pouch from the side of her pack. She then headed off to the stream to fill them all.

She took a deep breath as she stopped on the bank of the small water source. She pulled water towards her and began molding it around to get any impurities out of it. Then she uncapped her pouch and guided the water inside before closing it off. She then repeated the process for all of the other water skins.

Kori returned to camp with a large load of refilled water skins. And camp smelled of cooked meat and spices. "Good hunting?" Kori looked over to a smiling pair of brothers that were cleaning their knives.

"We found a heard of deer." Kili said enthusiastically. "It was amazing. I've never seen so many at once."

"We got enough meat for tonight and for Bomber to dry out so we can take it with us." Fili said as he ruffled his brother's hair. The two getting into a friendly brawl trying to mess up each other's hair more.

Kori chuckled as the two wrestled. "Do you have any brother's Avatar Kori?" Kori looked over as Bofur handed her a bowl of stew. "Any siblings or family wondering where you are?"

Kori stared down at her food. "I'm an only child. My mom didn't want to have any other children after me. And she died when I turned 6." She took a bite of food, not really hungry. "My dad went off to war when I was 9, never came back. Nan took care of me after my mom left. She's old and can take care of herself, so I'm not worried about her. She's probably more worried about me."

"That sounds tough." Kori looked over and noticed Kili and Fili both being as quiet as her. "Our dad died when we were young as well. But we still have Ma." Fili watched as his brother smiled sadly. "And if your grandmother is anything like you, Avatar Kori, you are probably right in that she is well off."

"Kori is just fine, Fili." Kori took another bite of food, regaining her appetite. "You all insist I stop it with the 'Master' bit. So you can stop it with the 'Avatar' and 'Lady' bit. It's all just formality." Kori felt a bubble in her chest and let out a loud belch. She covered her mouth when everyone stared at her. "Excuse me?"

Her words were followed by Nori letting out a belch of his own. "Can't let a woman outdo a dwarf." Nori chuckled as Bomber let out an even larger belch. The rest of the company laughed as they all tried to outdo each other.

Kori took another bite of food as Dwalin let out the loudest and longest they had heard yet. A few of the others tried to top his, but it did not work. Kori held a hand up before letting out another that blew Dwalin's out of the water. Everyone burst out laughing. "I think I win that contest." Kori laughed as everyone agreed with her.

"And with that you win the honor of first watch." Dwalin stated as he got up from his spot and headed over to his cot. A few of the other dwarves did the same while other continued to chat.

Kori got up and returned her bowl to the pile that everyone else had placed their bowls In. She then went over to her bed and collected her jacket and water pouch. She put both on before settling down by the fire once more.

"Kori?" Kori looked over to see Kili staring off into the fire. "Have you ever met a dragon?"

Kori looked off into the fire as she pulled a bit of flame out and shaped it into a small dragon. "Once. I couldn't have normal teachers teach me how to master the elements, I couldn't let anyone find out I was the Avatar. So I had to learn from the natural benders. Air from the flying bisons, Earth from the badger-moles, and Fire from the dragons. Well, Boulder may have been human, but he lived with the badger moles, and he was blind." She let the small flame dragon turn to embers and float away. "Draxion, the dragon that trained me, taught me the truth of fire. It can be devastating if not used properly, but it was meant to bring life."

"Dragons weren't evil in your world?" Kili asked as he watched Kori recount things of her past. She wasn't saying everything, but she was saying enough.

"Some were." Kori looked over at Kili then over to Thorin. Thorin had his back turned to them. "I was looking for a dragon to train me when I came across a village. It was small, but the people were so nice. Soldiers came through the town looking for me, but the villagers protected me. The next day when I left, I watched as a dragon burned it to the ground." Kori shut her eyes as she caught sight of things in the fire. "But as I said earlier, fire, and dragons, grown into what you make them."

"Uncle Thorin says all dragons are greedy and evil creatures." Kili poked at the flames with a stick, sending embers into the air. "And fire is just as greedy and evil."

"I've never met a dragon in this world." Kori said as she stood to start her watch. "And I hope, for all of our sakes, that Smaug does not make an enemy of us. Because I will roast his hide if he dares harm any of you." She gave Kili one last smile before she walked off to find a post to watch from. She hoped the many moving feet she sensed were just moles or some sort of underground creature, because there were far more of those than there were of them.

* * *

And we get a bit more development with the relation Kori has with the company.

Leave a review to let me know how you are liking the story.


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

* * *

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

Kori had her hood up and was easily walking on the mountain trail. The wind had picked up once they entered the mountain pass. And now the sound of rumbling thunder rolled around the air. She really did not like the feel of the earth beneath her feet, it was silent.

"Keep moving!" The command floated down from the front of their procession.

They all continued along the winding path till the sound of thunder and rumbling grew louder. Till they came around a corner and a form moved above them in the dark. "Oh my." Dori exclaimed as he got a good look at the form. "The rumors are true, Giants, Stone Giants."

Kori watched as large giants made of stone battled each other. She checked with her earth sensing to see what she could see, but just as before, she saw nothing through her feet. "I can't sense them, they are made of earth."

"Well that's a shame." Fili said as he walked ahead of her. They all froze as the ground and wall beside them shifted. "Kori?"

"Don't have to earth-bend to know we are on a giant." Kori said as she urged him forward. They all stumbled as the giant moved more. "Hang on!" Kori shouted as she tried bending the stone, but this was not pure stone, it was a living thing, and she had never bent something like this before. Kori held onto the stone giant as others did the same. Kori watched as a boulder crashed into the head of the giant they were on, knocking it's head off and sending it crashing back towards the cliff. Kori locked her feet onto the ground before letting go of the giant and focusing on the cliff coming at them.

Thorin watched as part of their company fell towards the side of the cliff. "NO!" He cried out as they crashed into the stone. "Fili! Kili!" He called out as he made his way towards the rubble that had been created from the collision.

"Uncle!" Thorin let out a breath of relief as Kili climbed down from the small pile of rubble. "We're fine, but Kori got knocked out."

"I'll get her." Dwalin said as he pulled the young dwarf down. "The rest of you get over here!" He shouted as everyone else that was on the giant climbed over the rubble. Dwalin climbed over and easily found the young lady laying on the ground with her eyes closed. He tossed her over his shoulder, surprised by how light she felt, and made his way back to the rest of the company.

"Is that everyone?" Thorin called out to the company. He could see everyone was still among them, even their hobbit. "Then let's move. There's a cavern up ahead we can rest at till dawn." The company began moving towards the cave Nori had scouted out earlier.

Once inside the cave, they scouted around the inside of it, making sure there was nothing living in it. Dwalin laid the Avatar down on a piece of flat ground before allowing Oin to check her over for injuries. "What knocked her out?" Dwalin asked looking over at the two princes.

"A rock fell down on top of her head." Fili said as he dropped his hand on top of his own. "We honestly thought we were goners. But Kori just pushed towards the cliff, it bent and softened our landing. Bits of rock still fell, but they were really just pebbles. The largest hit Kori."

"And it doesn't look like it did much other than send her off to dream land." Oin said as he turned the girl over onto her side to rest her head on her arm. "She's lucky."

"We all were." Fili said as he sat back against the cave wall, ready for a good rest before they continued on in the morning.

* * *

Kori woke to a pounding in her head. ' _Wha- oh right, I got knocked out by a rock._ ' Kori sighed as she stretched out her senses. She frowned as she felt nothing beyond the two inches of stone beneath her. Then she felt a soft shaking and sand sliding against the stone. ' _Not good._ ' Kori pushed herself up as the floor dropped beneath her as Thorin shouted to the rest of the company.

Kori tried to catch herself on the stone as she fell, but there weren't any good hand holds. She finally crashed to a stop on a wooden floor. She grumbled as a few dwarves landed on top of her. "And here I thought rocks were heavy."

"Try picking up a troll." someone grumbled from above Kori as she tried to get out from under the pile of moving bodies. They all froze as the sound of scrapping and screeching was heard. "Lass, stay behind us."

Kori let out a surprised yelp as something tugged on her foot. "Like I have a choice-" Another tug pulled her off of the wood and onto stone once more. And now she was surrounded by ugly, deformed creatures. Kori was pulled to her feet and pushed down a path along with the rest of the dwarves.

They all came to a stop on a large platform in front of a throne. A larger creature sat atop a wooden throne as his minions cheered and screeched around him.

Kori stared at the creature, she had never seen anything like it, not even in the spirit world. She continued to stare as the large creature looked at her and the company. "And who are these trespassers? Thieves? Assassins?" He asked as he waved a large staff at them.

"Dwarves, your malevolence." A small creature spoke to the large King. "And a woman."

"Dwarves and a woman?" The Goblin King eyed the group and could easily find the human woman among all of the dwarves. "Well search them. Every nook and cranny."

Kori smiled as they didn't find any weapons on her. Then a larger goblin grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the dwarves. "Get your hands off me!" She kicked the goblin in the knee, knocking it over and off the platform. Then two more grabbed her and forced her to her knees.

"You're a feisty one." Kori sent a glare at the goblin king. "Must say, don't see many women as brave as you. Most beg for mercy at the sight of us." He chuckled as he looked over the female. "Do dwarves enjoy exotic over beauty?" He chuckled more as the dwarves began yelling at him. "Because I don't see the appeal. Small breast and hips. Although the clothes cover up quite a bit."

"No wonder all the women beg for mercy." Kori gave the goblin a smirk. "Death would be more entertaining than you." She held her tongue as a hand struck her cheek, not letting them hear her scream.

The Goblin King laughed, the woman was certainly entertaining. He turned his attention back to the dwarves. "So, what are you doing in my mountain?" He looked around as all of the dwarves kept quiet. "You won't talk? Fine, then we'll make you squawk. Bring the mangler! Bring the bone crusher! We'll start with the youngest!" The goblin king pointed towards one of the dwarves with a short beard. "Then we'll try something with the girl-"

"Wait!" Thorin stepped forward, glaring at the massive goblin.

"If it isn't Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King Under The Mountain." The Goblin King began. "But wait, I forgot, you don't have a mountain. So I guess that makes you...no one." He laughed along with the rest of the goblins around him. "I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head...just the head, nothing attached. I believe you know him quite well. A certain pale orc, astride a white warg."

Thorin stared at the goblin. "Azog died of his wounds long ago."

"You think his defiling days are over?" The King laughed as he made his way over to a messenger. "Send a message to the pale orc. Tell him we have his prize." He sent the messenger off before returning to his quarry. A screech from another goblin drew his attention to a glowing, elvish blade. The king jumped onto his throne in fear. "It's the Goblin Cleaver, the blade that has cut off a thousand heads. Kill them all!" He bellowed towards the guards. "Cut off their heads!"

A bright light stopped everything and everyone. Then a strong push knocked the two torture contraptions off of the platform along with most of the goblins. Kori looked at the light and smiled as she saw the tall figure of Gandalf. "Arm yourselves! FIGHT!" The wizard called to the company as he began attacking goblins.

Kori got up and sent gusts of air at the goblins around her, knocking them off of the platform. She uncapped her water pouch and made herself two blades of ice. She had learned early on that knowing how to fight as a non-bender was always useful. And making her way to the company was easy, the goblins weren't that strong.

"MOVE!" Gandalf called out as he led them down wooden paths through the goblin town.

Kori was right at the back of the group. But she didn't mind, it gave her a clear shot at the goblins. She was forced to melt her blades and use her water as she normally did. Slicing through skin and knocking against heads. "I don't like goblins." Kori said as she ducked under a swing as she followed behind the company.

"No one does." Nori said as he ran beside the Avatar. Cutting down goblins as he kept up with his brothers and the rest of the company. But their path was cut off when the floor dropped beneath them and they tumbled onto a lower walkway.

Kori picked Nori and Bofur up as Gloin picked himself up. They all kept moving as goblins followed after them. "It's about to get hot in here." Kori called out as she placed a hand on the rock wall beside her. Goblins screamed at her as she dragged her hand across the rock, melting it into lava. "Have fun, uglies." Kori pulled lava out of the rift she had created and threw it across the path as more lava poured out of the wall. She turned and ran after the dwarves, easily catching up with them.

"What did you do?" Nori asked as he watched flames come up behind them. He hadn't seen flames come from the avatar, and she could have just sent fire at the goblins while he wasn't looking.

"Lava-bending." Kori said as she pulled out a wall of stone to block the goblin's path. "Should slow them down."

"Lava!? You mean you made molten rock?!" Gloin called out from the front of their little group. He got a nod from the Avatar before she turned and pushed her hands at the stone behind them. The stone turned bright red and bubbled. "Thank Mahal you are with us." He breathed out as they picked up their pace, goblins were climbing down from the rocks above them.

Kori chuckled a bit as they ran. She noticed their path came to a cross road ahead, one that the rest of their company was running past. When the path took a turn to follow the cliff face, Kori ran straight and jumped the gap to the next walkway. She landed on a goblin and stood before a group of goblins. "Hello there." She spoke before placing her hands flat in front of her and pushing down, dropping the ground the goblins where standing on. She lunged forward, creating a new bridge for them to cross over.

"Go!" Kori saw Gandalf running up behind her. She ran ahead and stopped at a turn in the path. She turned to the wall and jabbed her hands into the rock. "We don't have time-" Gandalf began to speak, but stopped. The girl had pulled a large boulder out of the wall and sent it rolling down the path before them, knocking goblins out of their path.

"Come on!" Kori shouted as she followed the large rolling stone. It lodged itself into a doorway, so they took the other path.

But the large form of the Goblin King stopped them. "You think you can enter my mountain and then just leave?" The King sneered at the woman and wizard as the dwarves came up behind them. "What are you going to do now, wizard?" Gandalf lunged at the king, jabbing his staff into his eye and slicing his gut open. The king fell to his knees with a stunned look. "That'll do it." With that said the wizard slit his throat and his corpse fell onto the wooden bridge they were standing on.

Kori tried to brace herself, but there was nothing stable around them. They slid down the cliff and were slowed when the wooden structure was wedged between two large rocks. "Can we not do that again?" Kori asked as she rolled off the wood and onto the stone floor.

"At least it can't get any worse." One of the dwarves spoke. But it did get worse, the corpse of the goblin king then fell on top of them.

"You have got to be joking!" Dwalin yelled as he tried to free himself from the now heavier rubble that trapped him.

Kori helped to pull others out as quickly as she could. "Gandalf!" Kori looked up as Kili shouted. A large hoard of goblins was running down the cliff towards them.

"Only daylight will save us now." Gandalf shouted as he ushered the dwarves towards the exit. He made sure they were all running before he himself began to run.

Kori was once again bringing up the rear of the company. She didn't mind, it meant she could just throw things behind her as she ran. As daylight exploded around her she felt her muscles relax, they were safe, for now. They finally stopped running downhill from the cave in a small clearing. Kori collapsed onto the ground as she caught her breath.

"I didn't know lava was an element." Gloin sat down beside Kori.

"It's not, but it falls under a bendable element." Kori stated as she caught her breath. "It falls between fire and earth, but since it is molten rock, it's part of earth-bending. There aren't many earth-benders that can lava bend though. Just like metal-bending or lightning-bending, rare, but possible."

"Where is our hobbit?" Gandalf called out to the company. "Who was watching him?"

Nori meekly lifted his hand. "I saw him. Back when the goblins first rounded us up. He just crouched down and they all just moved by him."

"So he is still in there?" Kori eyed the mountain behind them. She really did not want to go back in there, but Bilbo was still somewhere in there.

"I'm sure he got out." Balin stated firmly. "He's probably on his way to us now."

"No." Thorin spoke as he looked away from the mountain. "He's not coming back. He saw his chance to leave, and he took it. He is probably long gone by now."

Everyone was silent. "No, he isn't." Bilbo said from his spot standing atop a rock. Everyone greeted him happily, except for Thorin and Gandalf who looked at him suspiciously, he had appeared out of nowhere.

"How did you get past the Goblins?" Bofur asked curiously. Wanting to hear how their burglar made it past the hoard of goblins.

Gandalf had a twinkle in his eye as he caught sight of Bilbo reaching into his pocket. "What does it matter? He's back."

"It matters." Thorin spoke as he made his way through the company to stand before the hobbit. "Why did you com back?"

Bilbo took a deep breath and looked at his feet before looking back at the company leader. "Look, I know you doubt me. I doubt me. And you're right. I miss my home. I miss my books and my garden. That's where I belong. That's home. But you don't have a home. It was taken from you. So I am going to help you get it back."

Kori smiled at the sweet scene that was taking place. She shivered as a cold blew through her. ' _Raava?_ '

' _Yes, darkness is coming._ ' The ancient spirit spoke as Kori looked around the sunny clearing towards the sun that was setting. A howl drew everyone's attention. ' _Run Kori._ ' Kori followed the rest of the company, not having heard Gandalf, but following Raava's warning.

Kori easily pulled herself into a tree and helped a few of the other dwarves climb higher up as the howling grew louder. Soon there were wolf like creatures barking at them and trying to get into the tree. "Well you're nasty." Kori scrunched her face up as the creatures tried to jump at them.

"Those are wargs lass. Nasty beasties." Bofur said as he spit on one of the wargs.

The tree began to grown and creak as it tilted to the side. "Not good." Kori whispered to herself as she tried to stabilize the tree with the earth beneath it, but it wasn't doing much. "Jump." She told the others as they neared another tree, but their tree knocked down that tree as well. And so they traveled until they all ended up on one tree. It was much larger and sturdier than the others, but it was on the edge of a very tall cliff. "Wonderful." Kori said as she watched wargs continued to bark and jump at the tree.

Suddenly a ball of fire flew out of the tree and hit one of the wargs. The company looked up to see Gandalf lighting pinecones on fire and tossing them. Kori soon joined in by throwing balls of fire and lighting pinecones on fire for others to toss. Soon the wargs were backed away form the trees.

" **I smell you all.** " A raspy voice drew everyone's attention from the crackling fire to a large pale creature riding atop a white warg. " **You smell of fear, Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror. Your grandfather also stunk of it.** " Kori watched the pale orc and froze as his cold eyes met her's. " **And you, little spirit, I shall taint you with darkness.** "

 _'Raava?_ ' Kori could feel something cold and dark claw at her soul. ' _What is this thing?_ '

' _This is what those of this earth call an Orc._ ' Raava explained as she soothed the Avatar. ' _And it seems Vaatu has chosen his champion._ ' Kori stared as a dark glowing shape appeared behind the pale Orc for a moment. ' _He is still weak though. We have time to prepare before you have to face him._ '

' _Do I have to?_ ' Kori looked away from the pale creature. ' _I don't want to face this monster._ '

" **Kill them all, but Oakenshield and the woman are mine.** " Azog growled to his troops as they approached the burning cliff side.

Kori glared at Azog. "Not happening." She growled as she stepped out of the tree and landed on the ground. She heard the tree begin to fall behind her and slowed it's fall, stabilizing it over the edge of the cliff. ' _This is why trees and fire don't mix._ ' She turned her attention back to the wargs and orcs that were inching closer to her. "Try to pass me." She challenged as she coaxed the fire around her.

"Azog is mine to deal with." Kori looked beside her to see Thorin walk past her. She let the dwarf do as he wished, it was one less thing to worry about.

Kori stepped back into her fighting stance as wargs growled around her. She jabbed at the first one, sending a fireball it's way. The next was met with a kick that engulfed it in fire. After that she created a pair of fire daggers that shot out of the end of her fists. She didn't notice a smile on her face as she fought, this was something her soul had missed, but also scared her. She was suppose to bring peace, not be a war machine.

"Thorin!" The cry from the fallen tree pulled Kori out of her battle mode. She noticed the dwarf king laying on the ground, a warg slowly advancing on his downed form.

Kori launched herself into the air with a blast of fire, landed on the warg and stabbed it with her daggers, drying it's lungs. She stood up from the dead warg and stared at Azog and his soldiers. "Who's next?" She increased the temperature of her flames till they burned blue.

" **You think I fear you, little spirit?** " Azog laughed. " **You should fear me. And this time, chaos shall rule.** "

"Over my dead body." Kori growled as she stepped back into her fighting stance. Wargs and orcs were surrounding her and Thorin. But they didn't attack her, they were attacked by the rest of the company. Kori smiled as she jumped back into the fray of battle. Keeping an eye on Thorin so no enemy would get to him.

' _Vaatu is weak._ ' Kori looked over at Azog. Vaatu's faint form behind him was small. ' _If you can kill him now then Vaatu will be forced to return to our world. Harmonic Convergence will not occur and Order shall rule until you return._ '

Kori nodded as she let her flames die and began focusing. It started with a low hum, but soon the air was crackling around her. Kori began the steps of her lightning attack. One hand up and one hand down, two fingers extended. Bring them both to her chest, then push them out, one in front and one behind. Sparks crackled along her arms and down her legs. Kori took another breath as she waited for an opening. When one appeared she stepped forward, thrusting the hand behind her forward as the other one went up. An arch of lighting shot off of her fingers, hitting Azog's white warg between the eyes. "...no..." Kori whispered in defeat.

Azog laughed as he got off of his dead mount. " **A neat trick, little spirit.** " He chuckled as he picked up a mace. " **But it seems you are nothing more than a child when it comes to fighting.** "

Kori stared at the large Orc that walked towards her. She faintly wondered what happened to the dwarfs around her. The screech of an eagle drew her gaze to the horizon. She looked back at Azog and Vaatu. "I am a fighter. And you will not win." With that said she turned and ran off of the cliff, leaping off with air-bending.

Kori loved the feel of free falling, but she normally had her glider with her. And she didn't have it this time. "Ah-" She called out as those thoughts came to her mind. But her landing on a feather covered surface stopped her. Kori looked around and noticed she was indeed on the back of a giant eagle. "Okay, this works." She laid back with a sigh. "Looks like I can't get away from this fight." She looked down at her hand and clenched it in a fist. "I won't miss next time."

* * *

Yay! Bending is awesome! Although I totally don't know what type of bending I would have. They are just all so awesome!

Thank you for reading. Please leave a comment.


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

* * *

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

Kori sat up and assessed her wounds as the Eagles flew on. She had a few scraps and bruises, but nothing major. She checked her water pouch and frowned when she found it empty. "Damn it." She cursed as she breathed in the air around her, it was dry. "Double damn it."

Looking around she noticed they had left forests behind and we're now surrounded by large rock formations. It reminded her of the Southern Air Temple and the area around it. As well as a few places in the Fire Nation. And they were making their decent towards one of them.

Kori slid off of her eagle and looked around. The rest of the company seemed to be in rough shape, but alive. However, she could not see Thorin.

"Thorin!" Someone shouted as the last eagle flew down, setting someone down from it's talons. Thorin laid on the ground, unmoving.

Gandalf forced his way to the downed King. Placing a hand on his forehead as he began to speak under his breath. After a few hushed phrases, the dwarf King took breath. Gandalf sighed in relief.

Kori sat back in relief, they were all alive. "We're is the hobbit?" Her smile fell from her face as Thorin spun and faced the hobbit. "You! Did I not say you would be a burden? That you had no place here." Kori was about to get up to defend the hobbit, but it was not necessary. "Never have I been so wrong." Thorin pulled the hobbit into a hug before the rest of the company began cheering for the hobbit.

"Thank the spirits." Kori whispered as she stretched. She could use a healing bath right now. As she looked around her, her eyes feel on a distant object. "What's that?" She asked as she moved to the edge of the rock they were standing on. Not bothering to use her senses, it would be inaccurate this far above ground level.

"Erebor." Thorin whispered as he spotted the Lonely Mountain. The single peak that broke the near flat ground below them. His home.

"Look!" Dori called out as he pointed to a bird flying overhead. "A raven! The birds are returning to the mountain."

"That, my dear Dori, is a thrush." Gandalf corrected the dwarf with a grin.

"We'll take it as a sign." Thorin said as they watched the bird fly off towards the solitary peak. "We should get down before nightfall." He began looking around and stumbling a bit.

"Hold on." Kori said as she looked around for water skins. "Anyone got water left?" She smiled as Ori lifted his up. She easily pulled the water from the skin and wrapped it around her hand. "You have a concussion at least, and will fall off this cliff if left untreated." Her hand began to glow as she gave Thorin a smile.

Thorin eyed the glowing water then the Avatar that wielded it. "What is that?"

"This is water-bending healing." Kori spread the water between her two hands as she stood in front of Thorin. "And I think everyone will agree that having you in good health is best." She reached out and held her hands a few millimeters away from Thorin's head as the water ran along his skin and soaked into his scalp. She closed her eyes as she concentrated on mending blood vessels, bone and other tissues.

Thorin watched as Kori's bright blue eyes closed. He could feel cool water running through his hair as well as his headache going away. It was quiet while Kori worked whatever magic she had.

Kori retracted her hands once her water was used up. She could continue healing using his own blood, but she figured it might be best to keep that bending secret for now. "That's all I can do for now. I can do more once I get more water."

"There's a river down below." Kili called out as he peered down over the edge. "And a beach and forest nearby. Good place to make camp."

Thorin nodded. "Then we should get moving. We are losing daylight." He faced Kori and gave her a small bow. "You have my thanks, Avatar."

Kori returned the bow with a smile. "Happy to help." She followed after the group towards the staircase that was carved into the side of the rock. They started out fairly easily, but then became rather irregular. One step was as tall as her! "Who built these?" She asked as she landed onto another step. This one was almost twice her height.

"Whoever it was, did not make them dwarf friendly." Bofur spoke as he jumped off of his brother's shoulder. "You think you could do something about that?"

Kori looked down at the steps ahead of them, they were less than a third of the way down. She walked to the outer edge and felt the rock beneath her feet. She raised one foot and stomped it back down. The rock beneath one foot jumped up while the other stayed level. She looked up and saw her steps had gone up as well as down. Giving Bofur a smile and bow she made her way down her freshly made steps. "Mind the edge." She called out as she felt others use her steps.

* * *

Kori let out a grateful sigh as she stepped into shallows of the river. It was't too deep where they were, but it definitely got bigger both down and upstream. "This is a very nice river." Kori turned and walked out of the water towards a large boulder. "Okay." She kicked the rock and smiled as a large section fell to the ground. A punch caved it in enough to make an indent, but still keeping it fairly shallow. "Alright, who is first?"

The dwarves eyed her curiously as she filled her rock bath with water. "What is that for?" Oin asked. He was still surprised that she could heal as well as she fought.

"I need you floating." Kori stated matter-of-factly. "And before one of you asks why I don't just use the river, I will explain. To influence water to heal I need to be in control off that body of water. This river is connected to a lake or maybe even the ocean eventually. Either way it is far too large for me to control." She noticed most of the dwarves nodding, a few still had confused and worried looks. "So, who wants to go first?"

"I will." Balin stated as he walked up to the girl. "My back has been killing me since Goblin Town. Do I need to remove anything?"

Kori shook her head. "I can dry you off after wards." She smiled as the dwarf settled into the rock tub. She took a deep breath as she stepping into her stance. She pushed and pulled the water as it began to glow gently. She could feel the water moving and working out the tensed and damaged tissues. It was a few minutes till she was done. "Did you fall asleep there?"

"Just a light doze." Balin easily got out of the tub and stretched. "That was most relaxing." He smiled as water pulled itself away form his body and was discarded along with the rest of the water in the tub. "I feel 50 years younger."

Kori chuckled as she pulled fresh water from the river and into the tub. She noticed other dwarves chewing their lip in contemplation. "So, who's next?"

* * *

Kori sighed as she laid back. All the dwarves were healed, along with the wizard and hobbit. And she had also gotten to take a bath. Now a good night's sleep with no nightmares would make it perfect.

"Thank you." Kori looked across the fire at Thorin Oakenshield. "You did not have to come with us. But I thank you for coming."

Kori gave him a smile as she propped herself up on her elbows. "I wanted to come along. I've never felt like I had a purpose before. And it's nice to be part of something good. Something that's believed in."

"Will you go home after this?" Thorin asked curiously. This girl had family waiting for her, people that cared for her safety.

Kori laid back and stared up at the strange stars. "I don't know. I'm not really needed back home. Only wanted as a weapon. I don't want to be that. I want to be an ally, a friend."

"I consider you an ally." Thorin met the girl's crystal blue eyes. "I am grateful to have you on my side of a fight. But I would like to consider you more of a friend than just a fellow warrior." Silence filled the air between them. "Get some rest. We move on tomorrow."

Kori nodded as she turned away from the fire and the mountainless King. She could feel his feet move away from the fire and towards the watch point they had set up. She let out a breath as she closed her eyes to try and sleep. "I hope your fight does not last, Thorin Oakenshield." She whispered softly as her mind drifted.

* * *

Sorry for the shorter chapter. Things came up and this is all I got. But hopefully I will get a larger one up for you all next week. So stay tuned. And I apologize for the late posting.

Please leave a comment. I want to know what you all think of the story.


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

* * *

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

The next day was filled with walking. Walking through woods and walking over rocks. Kori was starting to get tired of walking. "To think I would miss Old Nan's constant jabbering. She usually never shut up while we were traveling."

"What did your grandmother talk about?" Ori asked as he looked up at the dark skinned woman.

"Everything." Kori chuckled as Old Nan's voice rang through her head. "She would tell me about things my dad did as a child. How my parents met when they were young. But most of the time she spoke about the past. Telling stories and legends of the Avatar and the War."

"Can you tell us a story?" Kili asked as he and Fili spun around and began walking backwards. "Might as well pass the time." He gave a shrug as he spoke.

Kori tapped her chin as she thought of a story to tell. "Okay. This is the story of Avatar Kofu, he was the Avatar about 150 years before me. Give or take a few decades." She smiled as she noticed more of the dwarves paying attention. "Avatar Kofu was born to the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe. He mastered water-bending before he even turned 10, and learned he was the Avatar at the age of 8.

Now Avatar Kofu was not a fighter. He got sick very often, but he could call upon the spirits to help him. And on the day of his 13th birthday, The Earth Kingdom attacked. The fight was brutal, heavy losses on both sides. But victory went to the Water Tribe. For when Chief Tarok was killed, his son took up his mantel. Avatar Kofu sunk the entire continent beneath the water, but kept it away from his people." Kori smiled widely as some of the dwarves even clapped.

"So he became a strong Chieftain?" Gloin asked without looking back at the woman.

"No." The group became silent at Kori's words. "As I said earlier, Kofu got sick easily. And his body was very weak. After he pushed the water off of the continent, he collapsed from exhaustion. He died that night after passing the title off Chief onto his sister, Katara."

"A woman became Chief?" Thorin asked in confusion. A female leader was not something he had ever heard of.

"Katara was named after an ancestor of her's. She was the strongest water-bender after her brother." Kori explained. "And their parents knew Kofu would not live long, so they taught her how to lead their people."

"How many Avatars are there in your world?" Bilbo asked as he looked up at Kori.

"One. There is only ever one." Kori stated matter-of-factly.

"How did you become Avatar?" Kori looked behind her at Dori. The dwarf was frowning, trying to figure something out.

"I was born as the Avatar. Every Avatar is." Kori looked around at the others and noticed they were all frowning. "I haven't explained an Avatar enough have I?" She got a collective 'no' from everyone. "Well then, I am going to have to start from the beginning.

"It all began eons ago in my world. At this time Spirits and humans lived together, but they were not at peace with each other. The humans were weak and feared the Spirits, for they could easily kill them. But the humans were protected by the Giant Lion Turtles. And the lion turtles could give them the power to bend the elements, but they could only have the power when they went out of the village. Then they had to give it back when they returned.

"Now, in one of these villages lived a man named Wan. Wan was living in the village on the back of the Fire lion turtle. And he was not a great person, he was a thief."

"Thievery isn't bad if you do it for the right reasons." Nori interrupted. "And what's a lion turtle?"

Kori chuckled a bit at Nori's comment. "Um...it has a shell, big furry main, and a snout with sharp teeth? Do you not have lion turtles here? I've seen small models back home in a museum and I got to meet the water lion turtle."

"We know of lions and of turtles, but they are two animals." Balin commented as he tried to picture a lion turtle. "Now, no more interruptions lads. Please continue."

Kori nodded at Balin's encouragement. "Well, one day Wan got caught. And that day he decided to make his life better by becoming more powerful. He decided to join the hunters on their next hunt out in the Spirit Wilds. Now, hunters were given the power of fire-bending to protect themselves from the hostile spirits, and so Wan gained the power of fire-bending. But Wan had other plans for his power.

"Early on during their hunting trip, Spirits attacked them and Wan cowered. He acted as if he was afraid and was not brave enough to go out hunting. So they sent him back to the village and told him to give his power back to the lion turtle, but Wan just went right back to the village.

"And so, with his power he raided one of the wealthier families in the village. But he was caught and banished from the village. But the lion turtle was merciful ad allowed him to keep his power, since he would be easily killed without it. And it proved to be true, that first night he was almost killed many times. Only managing to stay alive because of his fire-bending power.

"By morning, Wan was hungry and exhausted. And when he found a fruit tree, he hurriedly plucked a fruit and tried to eat it. But it turned out to be a huddled bunch of bees instead. And the bees chased him off of a cliff. But Wan survived, having landed in plushy bushes, and found an oasis looking island.

"But the island was guarded by a Spirit. And the Spirit would not let Wan pass because he was human. So Wan came up with a plan to get pass the Spirit, he disguised himself as Bushy, the Bush Spirit." Kori giggled along with the rest of the dwarves. "But the guardian smelled him and cast him away once more, telling him to return to his village. Wan told them how he had been banished, and they told him to seek out the other lion turtle villages.

"So, without direction, Wan set out to find the villages. And along the way, Wan discovered a cat deer-"

"A what?" Ori asked as he looked up from his book. He had been writing everything that Kori had said. He had also written down her description of a lion turtle. "Is that a deer with a cat head? Or a cat with antlers? Or something like that?"

"Um..." Kori scratched the back of her neck. "A cat deer has long legs and a short tail. A muzzle and pointed ears, and then antlers on top of his head. You don't have those here either?" She got a head shake from everyone else. "Well, that's going to be fun. How about I explain all of the animals after the story?"

"Alright. I'll keep track of them." Ori said as he tapped his book with his piece of charcoal. "Sorry for the interruption."

"No problem." Kori gave the dwarf a smile. "Now, where was I?"

"Cat deer." Ori gave her the helpful reminder as he prepared to continue writing.

"Right." Kori snapped as she jumped back into the story. "He found a cat deer in a hunting net. And at first he thought to eat the poor creature, but as he got closer he changed his mind. He released the animal from the net, but the hunters returned for their catch. So Wan fought them off with his fire-bending as well as using the dangers of the Spirit Wilds to his advantage. But the leader of the hunters knocked Wan out. But he did not kill Wan. The guardian of the oasis had seen Wan rescue the cat deer and returned the kindness by saving Wan and bringing him back to the oasis.

"Now when Wan awoke in the oasis, he decided he had had enough of the humans and chose to live among the Spirits and learn their ways. And while he lived with them he honed his fire-bending skills. He learned the Dancing Dragon from a white dragon as well. And he used his skills to protect the Spirits from the humans.

"After 2 years of living among the spirits, Wan decided he would seek out the other villages atop the lion turtles. And as he traveled he came across two Great Spirits locked in combat. He called for them to stop, they were destroying the land and villages that were nearby. The white spirit told Wan that this was not his fight. The black spirit told Wan of how he was a prisoner of the other spirit and begged for help. Wan helped free the black spirit from the white spirit's grasp.

"But it had been a trick. The white spirit, Raava, told Wan that he had released Vaatu, the spirit of Chaos. She had been keeping him bound to her so as not to spread chaos, war, and destruction upon the world. Wan was regretful of what he had done. And so he offered to help Raava hunt down and recapture Vaatu. But she refused, saying this was not his fight.

"And so Wan continued on his journey to find the other lion turtles. It didn't take him too long. He eventually found harvesters, they were collecting things from the forest and returning to the flying lion turtle by using clouds and air-bending. But Wan couldn't fly, so he built a catapult ad launched himself onto the flying lion turtle.

"He was able to speak with the harvesters and learn about them. But as he visited Vaatu showed up. And the spirits that resided within the village became Dark Spirits and attacked. Wan used his fire-bending to defend the villagers from the Dark Spirits, but he could not stop them. Only when Raava arrived and knocked Vaatu down did the Spirits return to themselves.

"Wan had noticed that Raava looked weaker than she had before, smaller even. And so he insisted that he help her, since he had caused this problem. And Raava begrudgingly allowed it. So Wan asked the lion turtle to give him the power to bend air. But no human had ever held two elements. To which Wan replied that he was not like any other human. So the lion turtle agreed, but said that Raava would hold onto the power till he had mastered it.

"So the two traveled in search of Vaatu and the other two lion turtles. And Wan mastered the element of air. Now, for him to gain the power, Raava would have to merge their energies together for it to transfer. Now merging with spirits is never good. It will either kill the none spirit or alter the none spirit permanently. But Wan survived with no side effects.

"It took a year for them to find all the villages and master all of the elements. Now their focus was on finding Vaatu. And their search brought them to a small village near the fire lion turtle. The humans there were angry with the spirits, the two sides had never been on good terms. So when a group of Spirits approached the village to be rid of them, Wan tried to settle the conflict peacefully between his friends.

"But when Vaatu appeared, the Spirits turned dark and attacked the village. Wan tried to keep the two sides apart, but he wasn't strong enough. So he and Raava merged in order to be strong enough to wield all four elements at the same time to keep the two sides apart. But the strain of being merged took a large toll on Wan's body. He soon passed out from the strain.

"When he awoke, he found the village destroyed and the humans dead. As well as a shrunken and weakened Raava. Vaatu had beaten her down and left her to die. She was so small that Wan could fit her in a tea pot to carry her." Kori lowered her voice slightly, even if she did not have Wan's incarnation within her, she could still feel the sadness and defeat he had felt that day. "But the fight was not lost yet. Harmonic Convergence was fast approaching."

"What's that?" Fili asked curiously. His shoulders ducked a little as a few of the other dwarves complained about the interruption.

Kori couldn't help but giggle, the dwarves were really enjoying her story. "Harmonic Convergence is the name of the battle that takes place between the Spirits of Order and Chaos once every 10,000 years. And whoever wins will rule over the next 10,000 years."

"Sounds like a big deal." Kili added. "Have you seen one?"

"Almost." Kori spoke. "I was on my way to one when I was brought to this world. But it seems Vaatu followed me here. And it makes sense, everything must have it's opposite. Even if it is evil and a pain in the ass."

"So there is an evil, dark Spirit of Chaos flying around middle earth?" Fili asked while looking around, hoping not to see it.

"No." Kori noticed many of the dwarves tense at her words. "I've seen him. He was staying close to that pale Orc back there."

"Azog." Kori looked ahead of her at Thorin as he spoke. "His name is Azog the Defiler. What does it mean if this Spirit of Chaos clings to him? Will he have the same abilities as you?"

"Oh Spirits no!" The dwarves let out a breath of relief at the Avatar's assurance. "But he may gain spirit bending. Which isn't too bad. Not much stuff requires spirit bending." Kori shrugged as she explained. "I wouldn't worry too much about it. I can probably split the two apart. Vaatu is my problem to deal with. As the Avatar it's my job to keep the balance."

"Speaking of your job, get back to the story!" Oin muttered loudly. He was rather enjoying the distraction from their long walk.

Kori shook her head as the others chuckled. "I was on Harmonic Convergence right?" With a confirmation nod from Ori she continued. "Harmonic Convergence was approaching, so they made their way to the Southern Spirit Portal. It was one of two portals that connected the mortal world to the spirit world. And it would take them to the battlefield where they would meet Vaatu to decide who would rule.

"As Wan and Raava traveled, Raava apologized to Wan. She did not think humans were capable of honor and courage. And Wan in return assured her that they would defeat Vaatu, together.

"When they reached the portal, they crossed over into the Spirit World, finding Vaatu coming through the Northern Spirit Portal. Wan defended Raava with his fire-bending, but Vaatu was much stronger than him. So Wan called for Raava to merge with him, so they may be strong enough to defeat Vaatu. The merge put incredible strain on Wan, but he refused to give up. And as Harmonic Convergence began, Wan and Raava were tossed aside towards the southern portal. And when Wan touched the portal, the spirit energy bonded their souls together, creating the Avatar Spirit. Now that they were one, the strain was gone, and they trapped Vaatu within the Tree of Time.

"With Vaatu gone, Order would continue to rule, but the spirits and humans could not remain together. So Wan closed the Northern Spirit Portal. Then he sent all of the Spirits back to the Spirit World. Wan became the bridge between the worlds. He would keep the balance and teach the humans to respect the Spirits. So that one day they could live amongst each other in peace once more.

"And as time went on, Wan tried to teach the humans to live peacefully with each other. But they would not head him, war spread everywhere. It was as if Chaos had won in the end.

"In Wan's last moments, he apologized to Raava for failing to bring peace to the world. But Raava reassured him that this was not the end. For they were bonded for all of his timelines. So when he breathed his last breath, he and Raava left his body, entering into the rebirth cycle." Kori smiled as she looked up at the clouds, dusk would soon be upon them.

"So you are a reincarnation of this Wan?" Balin asked the young woman seriously. Dwarves don't believe in reincarnation. You live, you die, then you live out eternity in the Great Halls of Old.

"Yep. And I'm not even some recent one. There were hundreds before me." Kori had tried counting how many there were before, she lost track after 217 Water-Tribe born Avatars. "But to be honest, I don't even know if there will be one after me. Bending doesn't exist here, but maybe my spirit will go back to my world. I'm not sure."

"Would Raava know?" Kili asked as he looked up at Kori curiously.

'I don't know.' Raava spoke gravely from within Kori's mind. 'Darkness approaches.' Kori looked around them at Raava's warning, using her feet to see as well.

"What is it?" Thorin asked as he looked at the now alert Avatar. "Avatar-" He was cut off as the howl of a warg broke through the air. "They've caught up to us."

"So it would seem." Gandalf spoke as he looked towards the mountains behind them. "But how far?"

"It's difficult to see." Kori closed her eyes to concentrate. "The mountains, hills, and cliffs are taking too long to see. It would be faster to scout it out." She looked around the group, they would all be far better at not being seen than her. Her clothes were still a bright blue, while all of theirs were earthen colors.

"How about our burglar?" Dori questioned as everyone looked towards Bilbo.

"Me?!" Bilbo asked while pointing to himself. He looked to Gandalf hoping the wizard would tell them 'no', but Gandalf was giving him a smile. "Alright then." He spoke softly while making his way up a small cliff to find a vantage point.

They all waited for what felt like an hour. Howls could be heard echoing off the stone walls, but they were never growing closer or further away. They would be as loud as though the warg was right behind them, then almost too soft to hear. It was wearing on all of their nerves. Then the hobbit finally returned.

"How far are they?" Dwalin asked the little man.

"A league or two, no more." Bilbo said as he slid the last bit down to the same ground as them. "But we have bigger problems."

"Did they see you?" Dwalin asked anxiously. The last thing they needed was for the orcs to know where they were.

"What? No, listen-" Bilbo started, but Gandalf interrupted him.

"What did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse." Gandalf smiled as he looked around at all of the dwarves.

"Would you just listen!?" Bilbo hissed at them all. "I'm trying to tell you there is something else out there!" He pointed back up the way he had come.

"What else? Did it take the form of a large black bear?" Gandalf asked as he looked down at the hobbit.

Bilbo frowned as he straightened and looked at the wizard in surprise. "Yes, yes it did. How...how did you know that?"

"I say we turn back." Gloin said hastily.

"We'll be run down by Wargs." Dwalin spoke as he tried to figure out how to get past an Orc pack and a bloody bear.

"There is a house," Gandalf began to speak, gaining everyone's attention. "We may be able to take shelter there."

"An the owner of this house," Thorin eyed the wizard. "Is he friend or foe?"

"Neither." Gandalf spoke. "He will either help us, or he will kill us."

"What choice do we have?" Thorin asked, knowing the answer as soon as another howl pierced through the air. But this time a roar was accompanied by it.

"None." Gandalf spoke before breaking into a run. "Quickly! We must reach it before sundown!"

Kori hung back until the others were in front of her. It was easier for her to be at the back. She could easily defend their back with her bending, and since they were all short she could work in front of them as well. Plus she could help out more if she could see everyone.

It was only a few minutes till another roar broke the silence behind them. Kori dared a glance over her shoulder, catching sight of a dark form growing behind trees she was passing. She turned back towards the front and hoped the house was close by.

When they broke out of the forest and into an open field, everyone doubled their pace to try and reach the lonely house. Bomber reached it first, bouncing off the door, and the others that followed were quick to try and push the door open, not seeing the latch on the door.

Kori pulled a handful off water out of her pouch and sent it at the latch, flipping it up with a twist of her wrist. She saved her cheering as a loud crash and roar sounded not far behind her at the tree line. She picked up her pace, but her earth sight told her she wouldn't make it, and neither would Ori in front of her. "Not happening." She whispered to herself as she planted her feet and spun around to face the giant bear, and it was massive. Much larger than any polar bear dog she had ever seen.

"Avatar!" She heard other shout behind her as the bear charged at her. "Kori!" Taking a deep breath, she focused on her mother element. Opening her eyes, her hands came up and the bear froze, a paw held back to swipe her down with. A hush had fallen over the empty plain.

"Close the damn door!" Kori called behind her as she moved her arms, shifting the bear to a more relaxed pose with his own blood. "I'm truly sorry, but you left me no choice." She whispered to the bear as she heard the door to the house shut. "Now then, I am going to release you. You may feel a bit uncomfortable for a few moments, but it will pass." She hoped the bear understood her, most animals usually did. Something about being part Spirit calmed animals and allowed for easier communication. "Once again, I am sorry."

Slowly Kori dropped her arms and released the bear from her blood-bending. Immediately the bear stood on it's hind legs and roared at her. Kori tensed and waited to see what the bear would do. But all it did was roar, then turn and run back into the forest. Kori would have sunk down to the ground and laughed, but she doubted she would be able to get back up.

So she spun on her heels and made her way towards the little house, which was not even all that little. It looked like a giant could live in it comfortably. Kori raised her arm and knocked on the door. "Can I come in? The bear is gone." She called out through the thick door. As it opened a crack she was quickly pulled in and the door was shut tight and locked. Kori tripped over her tired legs. "There's no bear anymore. He ran back off into the woods." Kori spoke from her spot on the floor.

"What the devil where you thinking?!" Dwalin roared at the girl, she looked like a young naive girl as he spoke to her. "You could have been killed!"

Kori stared up at the rough dwarf with a surprised expression. She could swear she heard worry in his voice. "Um...I was thinking if I didn't do anything Ori and I would die." Everyone stared at her, then at Ori, then back to her. "My earth sensing is able to help me predict what could possibly happen. And at the pace we were running, the bear would have gotten me in two more steps, then Ori in three after that, then the house in four more steps. Stopping the bear was the best option with the highest survival count."

"But you could have died." Dwalin pointed a finger down at the girl. He felt like he was scolding one of the princes, or one of his nieces. "What if that bear hadn't stopped?"

"Why did it stop?" Bofur asked with a frown. "I've never seen a bear just freeze like that. And certainly not when it was charging something." All the dwarves turned their attention towards the Avatar. "What did you do?"

Kori sighed as she stood up and brushed herself off, noting a scrape on her arm from who knows when. "It's called blood-bending." She picked off a bit of the scab and pulled out a small ball of her own blood. "Blood is more than 90% water. So it can be bent by water-benders. But it is extremely difficult to learn, only a handful of people can learn it. And almost all blood-benders can only use it during a full moon. And in my world blood-bending is banned entirely." She let the blood fall into her palm and slowly pushed it through her skin till it was all gone. "I only use it when it is my only option. It's a despicable ability, forcing someone to act under your will...with no choice."

"Yet you used it." Thorin spoke up as he looked at the Avatar with distaste. She could force any of them to do anything, and they would have no choice but to do it. "Never use it again."

Kori nodded at Thorin's words, accepting the unspoken threat he had in his gaze. He would kill her if she used it on one of them, and she would accept that. "I believe," Gandalf spoke up, diffusing the tension in the room. "That we are all tired, and rest is needed. We have a busy day tomorrow."

* * *

Kori was still awake as the sky began to grow lighter. There were still a few hours before sunrise, but it was now a new day. Kori had not slept all night, she never did after blood-bending. Blood-bending felt terrible, whether you used it or it was used on you. There was a dull ache and a feeling of being too in tuned with your body after being blood bent, feeling your blood move according to someone else's will. And feeling like a predator playing with a paralyzed prey when you use it. She hated being a predator more than the dull ache.

The sound of the door opening distracted her form her thoughts. She looked over from her window seat to see a man almost twice her height walk through the door. Kori froze as she met the man's gaze after he spotted the dwarves asleep in his barn. Then the man beckoned for her to follow him into the kitchen, and she followed. She sat at the large table while the man moved about the kitchen with ease. And soon there was a large cup of tea in front of her. "Thank you."

"So you are the one that stopped me." Kori stopped halfway through her sip and stared at the man. He chuckled at her reaction. "It is quite a feat to stop me after I have charged."

"That was you?" Kori questioned as she looked at the man again. He was hairy, on par with some of the dwarves, and more than most of them. As the man nodded his head she set her tea back down. "Sorry, this is a bit of a shock to me."

The man chuckled once more. "Never heard of skin-changers I see. That's alright, not many of us left in the world." He took a gulp of his tea. "The name's Boern, and this is my house. So, what are you all doing in my house? And why is a young woman, such as yourself, traveling with 15 men?"

Kori froze as her face heated up. "Oh Spirits." She looked back at all of the dwarves then turned back to her tea. "Wow, that did not register until just now. Old Nana would skin me alive for acting like this. She used to try and marry me to any man I met." Kori chuckled as she thought of all the awkward things her grandmother had done to her. "But it's not like that. Gandalf asked me to help." She pointed her thumb over her shoulder at the sleeping company.

"I can see why they would need your help, you are strong." Boern spoke after he took another sip of tea. "Now, why are you in my house?"

Kori took another drink of her tea before looking back at the Company. They were all asleep, and sleeping peacefully for the first time in months probably. "I'm afraid you will have to wait for the full answer. But know that we only sought out your house as a refuge from an Orc pack. Otherwise we would have continued on."

Boern nodded at the young lady's answer, it would suffice for now. "I did not catch your name."

"Kori." Kori answered as she took another drink from her large cup of tea. "Thank you, Boern."

Boern nodded at Kori's gratitude. "Now then, I see dwarves asleep in my barn, but you are not asleep. Why is that?"

Kori stared down into her tea. "I never sleep after blood-bending. That's what I did to you."

"And why is that? Is it something to do with your powers?" Boern asked as he studied the dark skinned girl sitting across from him. "What makes it so you can not sleep?"

"Blood-bending is forbidden in my world. If you use it, you get a hand chopped off." Kori showed off both of her hands. "They showed me mercy because I was only 5. I was only locked up for a night without furs."

"Your people did that to a child?" Boern could see the distant look in the girl's eyes. "Why? You were but a child."

Kori continued to stare down at the tea as the memory came back to her mind. "I was a child. And like any child that finds a new toy, I played with it. I had found an otter penguin while out exploring the ice fields. The only ones that exist in the North are ones people bring up to hunt. And when I found it, it tried to run away. But I didn't want it to. I tried moving the ice beneath it, but it would slide off of it. I tried caging it in, but it would slip out. So finally I got annoyed and reached for it, and it stopped. I pulled it to me, happy that it would play with me. And we played, we played till the hunters found me blood-bending the poor thing. It had died when I pulled it too me, but it never made a sound...because I wouldn't let it."

Boern stared at the girl in shock, she was capable of such things? Of course she was, he had felt it himself. But she was now well practiced in it. He did not feel any pain as she held him still, only a slight discomfort at being unable to control his own body. "I can see that you regret what you did." The girl would not meet his gaze. "You were a child, unaware of what you were doing. It was not your fault, and they should not have punished you for it."

"But they did." Kori looked up at the bear-man. "Blood-bending let me feel like the strongest person alive, but I was controlling a paralyzed victim. If I used it on someone, they could scream and protest all they wanted, if I let them scream, but they still could do nothing to stop me." She dropped her gaze again. "That night in that cold cell taught me that no one should have that kind of power. The same as how no one person should decide the fate of another."

The two sat in silence as they finished their tea. Boern collected the cups and looked out the window at the horizon. "The sun will be rising soon." He walked to the door and grabbed a pair of pants and an axe. "I am going to chop wood, we will need lots of fire in the coming days."

Kori stared at Boern's back as he left the house. Her face heated up as the door shut and the image of Boern's naked back burned into her mind. They had sat together and drank tea while he was wearing nothing? How had she not noticed? "Maybe I'm not into men?" Kori took a deep breath as she tried to calm her mind, but a flash of Boern's back destroyed all of her progress. "Nope, I like men. I'm just oblivious to them."

She got up and went back to her window seat to watch the sunrise. Today was going to be a very interesting and busy day indeed.

* * *

Yay! I finished a longer one for you guys.

So we get a little bit of backstory into Kori's life. And we get to see more bending abilities as well.

Let me know what you think of the story! And be sure to follow so you know when another chapter gets posted!


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

* * *

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

Kori sat at the window seat as the dwarves milled about the tiny house and yard. They had all met Boern and were busy helping with chores around the house. Ori, Nori, and Dori were collecting honey. Thorin and Dwalin were chopping and stacking wood. Bomber, Bofur and Bifur were cleaning the kitchen. Fili and Kili were cleaning the barn. Bilbo was helping Balin clean the living room. And Oin and Gloin were cleaning the bathroom. Kori was very surprised at how well they all cleaned.

Kori had offered to help, but everyone insisted that they had it taken care of. But Kori had still taken the time to refill the water tank outside. And she kept an eye on everyone as well. And so far Boern and Gandalf had been chatting all morning while everyone else worked.

When lunch finally came around everyone was well acquainted with the house. But they weren't staying much longer. Boern had agreed to lend them his ponies for them to travel to Mirkwood. As well as keep the Orc pack away from them while they traveled to the forest. And they would be leaving right after lunch.

"Pack up and be ready to leave in an hour." Thorin told everyone as he finished his lunch and left the large table.

Kori still sat in her window seat. She hadn't been hungry for lunch, or breakfast. Yesterday's events still churning in her stomach. She let out a sigh as she got up and threw her pack over her shoulder, she had packed it earlier that morning. She waited outside while everyone else got ready.

"Fairing any better, Avatar Kori?" Kori looked up as Boern sat down on the porch beside her. The skin-changer gave the small woman a gentle smile. "Do not worry about yesterday, otherwise it will haunt you forever."

"Yesterday always haunts me." Kori said as she stared up towards the sky. "All my life I have looked behind me and regretted. I don't know how to look forward."

"Then turn your head." Boern chuckled as the dark skinned girl shook her head. "It may seem simple, but I know how hard it is. Leaving what you know behind and embracing what happened. Accepting that you let it happen, and that you couldn't stop it from happening even if you tried." He placed a hand on her tiny shoulder. "Do not let your past dictate your future. You have more power to change it than you realize. And it may just save lives."

Kori frowned as the large man stood and made his way towards the stables. She stared out over the grassy fields as she thought about his words. She lost herself enough that she didn't even notice members of the company walk past her.

"Ready to go lass?" Kori turned as Balin spoke from beside her. "We don't have far to go. Mirkwood is just a few hours ride. We should reach it long before dark." Balin made his way down the steps and towards the ponies.

Kori got up and followed everyone down to the ponies. All the dwarves were on a pony, including Bilbo, while Gandalf was on a horse. Kori was about to voice that there was no mount for her, but a heavy breathing at her neck stopped her. She slowly turned and found a fluffy brown bear staring at her.

"I sadly don't have enough horses for both you and the wizard." Boern spoke as he laid a hand on the grizzly beside him. "But Martha here has agreed to let you ride her."

"Martha?" Kori asked as she pet the bear. The female bear nuzzled against her hand, she acted kind of like a polar dog. But brown, and no dog. "Thank you." She directed the gratitude at both Boern and Martha.

"Let's go!" Thorin called out as he turned his mount towards the field, their path to Mirkwood.

Kori quickly jumped up onto the bear as Martha began following the company of ponies. She easily settled herself into a riding rhythm. It was very much like riding a polar dog, but much wider. And much more fluffy. Kori soon found herself snuggling into the soft, warm fur of the bear. And even faster did she find herself fast asleep.

* * *

Kori woke up to someone speaking to her. "Lass! You okay up there?" Kori straightened up and stretched. She froze as she caught sight of a massive forest in front of them. "Did you dose off there a bit?" Kori looked over to see Bofur smiling up at her. "Good thing you didn't fall off."

Kori slid off of the bear and patted her side and she made her way to her face. She gave Martha a scratch under her chin, which the bear seemed to like. "Thank you for the ride Martha. Now be safe on your journey home." She gave the bear a kiss on the brow before giving her one last hug. Martha nuzzled against her before turning and trotting away a bit before sitting down.

"She'll probably make sure the ponies get back safely as well." Bofur said as he watched the bear walk away. "Never thought I would see a friendly bear."

Kori had heard Bofur, but she was too busy focusing on the forest. It was large, dark, and uninviting. ' _Raava?_ '

' _I feel it as well._ ' The Spirit of Order spoke gently. ' _A sickness rests over this forest. It feels like Vaatu's doing, but it has been here much longer than he has._ '

' _Maybe this world has someone similar to Vaatu._ ' Kori offered as an answer, but it certainly didn't ease the uneasy feeling in her soul. ' _Let's hope we don't have to spend too much time here._ '

"Not my horse!" Kori turned to see Gandalf swiftly leave the forest. "I have need of it!" Everyone grumbled and protested as the wizard approached his horse.

Kori turned her attention away from the wizard as the hobbit approached him. She laid a hand on a tree to try and sense it's energy. The flash of a burning eye appeared in her mind and she pulled her hand away. She looked from the tree to her hand. ' _Raava, what was that?_ '

' _I do not know. But it's darkness was not like that of Vaatu's._ ' She comforted Kori with a wave of calm energy. ' _We must keep our guard up. I know not what dangers are ahead._ '

Kori took a deep breath as looked into the forest, spotting the stony path they were to follow. She tentatively tapped her foot to map out the path ahead. The path was strange, she could feel it, but she could not follow it. As though it was trying to lose her. "Great." She muttered under her breath as the dwarves began walking past her.

"Let's move!" Thorin called out from the front of their procession, leading them into the forest and along the path. They followed the path without pause till the forest grew dim. "We stop here. Stay on the path, and get a fire going."

"I got this." Kori said as she picked up a large stone that was just off the path. She focused on it till began to glow and melt. She shaped it into a bowl and set it down. "Old camping trick I picked up while going around the Fire Nation." She said as she took a log from Dori. She stood it up and lit the top on fire. "That should last for one watch. Next log, set this one on top and wake the next person. Great way to tell time in the dark."

"How ingenious." Dori muttered as he looked at their small fire. But it gave enough light. "But how will we cook on such a small fire. Kori gave the dwarf an unamused look as she held her hand out and lit it on fire. "Oh. Well that works."

The evening was pretty quiet, except for the sounds of the forest. Branches creaked and the wind whistled around them, but the most unnerving sound was an ominous flapping sound. As soon as the first giant moth appeared, dozens more followed.

"Put out the fire." Thorin grumbled as another moth tried to land on his head. "Without the light they should leave." Kori did as Thorin said and put out the fire, not even the embers glowed as the world became dark around them. "Get some sleep. We leave at First light." With the order given, everyone curled up in their bedrolls, ignoring the glowing eyes that the firelight had hidden.

* * *

The following day was filled with a lot of walking and very little talking. No one was in the mood for it. A grayness surrounded the company. Even Kori and Bilbo were feeling more down.

"What's that?" Bofur asked as they turned a corner. Everyone stopped and looked to see what the toy maker was looking at. "It looks like a deer."

"It looks sick." Nori said with a pout. "Everything does." He stated as he pushed a falling leave out of his face.

Kori reached into a tree and pulled out water from it. "Let me try something." Kori gently pulled the deer towards then till it was just off the path. She pushed the water towards the deer and surrounded it as the water began to glow a golden yellow. She focused on the deer's energy, purifying it.

When she finished a healthy young deer stood before them, soon falling with an arrow in it's chest. "Good work." Thorin said as the men pulled the deer onto the path. "We stop here for the night."

Kori provided the fire for cooking the meat as well as helping Bomber dry it. "How did you do that?" Kori looked over and found Kili looking at her curiously. "Was that water healing?"

Kori shook her head. "That was a purifying technique. It falls under water bending because water is the easiest conduit for spirit energy to pass through." Kori pulled water out of a nearby tree. "It takes a lot of water to do though. Luckily this forest is not short on moisture." Kili nodded as he went back to his meal.

Kori looked over the rest of the camp camp as she ate her meal in the growing darkness. She then looked up at the canopy of the forest. "Wonder what else we will find in here." Kori muttered to no one but herself. But she could feel that it was going to be a hard journey through this forest.

* * *

Sorry for the short chapter. I just needed to get this one out of the way so I could move on to more exciting things. So stay tuned for the next chapter.


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

* * *

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

Kori walked at the back of the group. She wasn't sure how many days they had been walking. And she didn't know how much further they had to go. Her mind was foggy and her feet were sore, she just felt drained.

And the dwarves weren't doing much better. They had slowed their pace considerably. Almost as though they were unsure of the path.

"We've lost the path!" Someone yelled from ahead of Kori. She looked down and sure enough there was no stone beneath her feet, and she already knew she couldn't sense it.

"Find it!" Thorin yelled as they all scattered to try and find it. "Avatar!" Kori met Thorin's eyes, he was frustrated. "Start looking!"

"It's useless." Kori muttered as she tried sensing it. "Gandalf said if we leave the path we won't find it again. And it is true even for my senses." She looked around and found that the dwarves were moving away from her. "Great. First I can't find a path, now I miss them leaving." She muttered to herself as she ran after them.

"I don't recognize any of it." Balin called out to the group. "None of it is familiar."

"Keep looking." Thorin encouraged everyone.

"We just need to go East." Ori stated happily.

"But which way is east?" Dwalin added. "We've lost the sun." He said pointing up at the dense canopy above them.

"Then we just need to get above it." Bilbo said matter-of-factly. He looked around and found everyone looking at him. "Me?" He asked almost in annoyance. When he got multiple nods he sighed and approached a tree. "I'll be back." He stated before climbing up the tree.

Kori watched as the hobbit easily scurried up the tree. Se placed a hand on the tree and took a deep breath. Wood-bending was thought to be impossible, but Kori was slowly figuring it out. Right now she was limited to sensing through it and helping them grow faster or slower. But it was an improvement from it being impossible.

She could see the hobbit making his way up the tree, but there were patches of something all along the tree that confused Kori. She knew exactly where they were, but they seemed to branch off of the tree forever. The hobbit paused at the top of the tree, looking around. But what drew her attention was vibrations coming from the unending branches. And when the first spider stepped onto the tree Kori backed away and glanced up.

"What did you see?" Thorin asked as the Avatar tensed. He followed her gaze up and spotted the large black spider. It must have been the size of a horse. "Weapons!" He called out as more spiders appeared around them. Some on the ground and some in the trees.

Kori lit her hands on fire and took a defensive stance, she hated spiders. She tossed fireballs and kicked at the spiders as they hissed around her. But there were too many of them. Kori hissed as she felt one of them bite her leg. She continued to fight as another bit her wrist. Then her leg once more. And finally her shoulder. She didn't know how many bites she had received, but the growing darkness in her vision told her it was enough. Her eyes shut as she felt her body being picked up and wrapped in something white, sticky, and string like.

* * *

Kori found herself in a strange dream. Everything felt fuzzy and she could not move. She was being dragged inside a large spider cocoon by a large spider into a nest of large spiders. Kori would have cried if she could have, but she just felt so numb.

The next time she became aware of her dream, she was hanging. Or, at least she thought she was hanging. She could feel nothing solid around her, just the sticky web keeping her contained. And the subtle swaying motion also gave her that impression.

When she finally realized this was no dream, she was falling. She hit the ground and laid there for a bit. Then the hissing and clicking returned and Kori had had enough. "That's it." Her eyes glowed as she slipped into the Avatar state. The cocoon shredding around her as the air picked up and swirled around her body.

Kori stood and faced the hoard of spiders. The dwarves were all in a circle around her, but Kori towered over them. In an instant the wind pushed the spiders back, followed by the earth swallowing them whole. Kori sent fire towards the ones above her as the dwarves charged at the spiders that were landing on the ground.

Kori stopped a spider midair that had tried to land on her from above. She closed her hand and crushed it before tossing it away. It was useful that all living things possessed water in their bodies. Kori pulled water from the dead spider and sliced through two more.

The whole time Kori had a grin on her face. With normal spiders you could just crush them beneath your feet. But when they were larger it was much more satisfying. She could crush them, burn them, drain them, or even pull them apart as the dwarves had done. She wasn't scared of them anymore.

Kori reached for another spider to kill, but an arrow killed it first. Kori spun around and found a group of elves surrounding the company. Another elf had an arrow pointed at her.

His blond hair perfectly framed his angelic face. His cold blue eyes stared in to hers, no hesitation was present. "Yield." He spoke calmly to the glowing woman. Her hair floated around her as though she was underwater. But her glowing blue eyes were a curiosity. It spoke of how much power this woman possessed. "Yield!" He called again.

Kori looked from the arrow to the company. All were accounted for, but she could not see Bilbo. She could sense him through the earth, but her eyes could not see him. Nor could she see his light. She gave a sigh as she released her Avatar state.

Kori felt her legs give out beneath her, the numbness coming back. She could feel someone touching the bite marks on her arms and speaking in some unknown tongue. It sounded like what Lord Elrond and his people spoke. It had been so long since she had left Rivendale. So long since she had left home, she missed home.

The sensation of being lifted brought Kori closer to her senses, but the numbness remained. She looked up at the light haired elf carrying her. His hair looked white, but with a bit of yellow to it. She vaguely wondered if he had been touched by moonlight. But soon her vision darkened again and she drifted into dreamless sleep.

* * *

Sorry for another short one, exams aren't giving me much time to do anything other than study. I promise there will be more long ones to come. Please be patient with me. And please let me know what you think of the story so far and what you thought of the chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

* * *

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

Kori woke to a pounding in her head. She felt like she had spent an entire night drinking wine or spirit juice. Even the dryness of her mouth matched the feeling. But she had no nausea, so that was a bonus. She pushed herself off of the hard rock she was laying on and opened her eyes to see metal bars, she was in a prison cell of some sort.

She frowned wondering where they could possibly be. Images filtered into her mind, the spiders, the company, and the elves. Kori guessed they were in an elvish prison. Because otherwise they would have been back in cocoons.

As Kori examined her cell, she noticed a tray outside of her cell. On the tray was a piece of bread and a cup of water. Kori may not have had nausea, but she did not feel like eating. So she reached for the water with her bending, too tired to want to move. But the water did not move, not even a ripple. Kori let out a frustrated sigh as she scooted over to the door and reached through the bars for the water, it felt like heaven going down her throat.

"Why did you not use your magic?" Kori snapped her head to the side, the whitish haired elf was there. As she looked at him her eye locked with his blue ones, they reminded her of the ocean, deep and mesmerizing. "Why did you not use your magic?" The elf asked again as he knelt down in front of the woman.

Kori swallowed the water in her mouth and wiped her lips. "I didn't feel like it." Kori looked away from his constant gaze. "And my head hurts." She looked at him from the corner of her eyes, he was still watching her. "And it's not magic, it's bending."

"Never heard of it." The elf said as he watched the woman.

"Well now you've seen it." Kori stated as faced him and met his gaze. Her eyes were drawn away form his eyes and to his hair. "Why is your hair white?"

"It's not white." The elf said as he looked down at it. "Have you never seen blond hair before?"

Kori shook her head as she reached out and touched it. The elf froze as she felt his silky hair between her fingers. "It's beautiful." Kori pulled her hand away as she realized what had just come out of her mouth. "I mean...it looks good on you." She shifted her head so her hair covered her face. She must have lost her ties somewhere along the way through Mirkwood.

Kori froze as her hair was tucked behind her ear and out of her face. She looked over and found the elf smiling at her. "Thank you." He held her gaze for a moment before standing, someone was coming down the steps. "Your meals will be brought along with a remedy for the spider venom."

"Wait." Kori said as the elf turned to leave. "I never got your name."

"Legolas." The blond prince gave the woman a gentle smile as he looked into her blue eyes. Although they seemed to be almost a turquoise earlier. "And you, my lady?"

"Kori." Kori returned Legolas' smile with one of her own. "And thank you." With those words said, Legolas turned and left the dungeon.

"Don't get too friendly with them lass." Kori looked out towards the dungeon and found she could make out a few of the company members across from hers. "They aren't good in a fight. Nor will they help."

"Dwalin, leave her be. She's young and just trying to get by." Kori guessed Balin had spoken. Since he had spoken against the gruff dwarf. "How are you feeling Avatar Kori?"

"Like I drank too much." Kori said as she picked up the piece of bread on her tray. "How long was I out?" She took a bite of the bread, it wasn't too bad, a bit bland, but quite filling.

"It's been a day at least." Balin spoke from his cell above the Avatar. "Are there really no blondes where you come from?"

"No." Kori stated as she wiped her hands. "I was very shocked to see Fili's hair. Although Gloins hair shocked me more."

"Never seen red hair either?" Gloins huffed from his cell. "Well, your going to be seeing a lot of red heads lass. But gold hair is rare even among dwarves. Fili's just a lucky lad."

"Are there white haired people in your world?" Kori recognized Kili's inquisitive voice easily. "And I don't mean old people."

"Yes there are people with white hair." Kori said as she sat back and tried to get comfortable on the ground, her connection to the elements was still weak at best. "Those people are blessed by the Moon Spirit."

"Do a lot of people get this blessing?" Kili asked wondering why anyone would want white hair. It would need so much washing and would be too easily seen while on a hunt.

"They don't exactly have a choice in the matter." Kori said calmly. "People blessed by the Moon have also been near death or almost taken by it. Children who would have died at birth, mothers who would have died in childbirth, and people with serious illnesses are just a few that I have heard of that have been blessed by the Moon."

"Who blesses them?" Kori frowned at Kili's question. "Was it a priest of priestess? Or did the Spirit himself do it?"

"She chooses who to bless." Kori smiled as she corrected Kili on the gender. "The light side of the moon is the one that gives life and light. The dark side gives strength and honor. And as far as I know, there is a group of holy benders that guard the pool the Spirits inhabit. So perhaps they do the blessing...or praying...I don't really know. I've never really known anyone that has been blessed. I just see them walking around."

"So you can save people from death." Balin said as he ran a hand through his beard in contemplation. "But at least you have people to prevent anyone from using it to cheat death."

"Just because someone asks to be saved, does not mean the Spirit will save them." Kori said as she looked down at the ground. "Otherwise I would not have lost my mother...or my little brother." Silence filled the large dungeon. "Sorry. I seem to keep dropping large bombs on everyone."

"What's a bomb?" Ori voiced from his cell with his brother.

"It explodes and causes a lot of damage." Kori explained with a chuckle. It still surprised her what they did not know. Most of this was common knowledge to her. But on the same token, she didn't know many basic things about their world, like names of animals. "So...what now?"

"We wait for Thorin to return." Balin said as he made himself comfortable in his cell. "Thranduil asked to see him earlier. Hopefully he offers a deal to let us go."

"Thorin wouldn't accept any help from them." Dwalin growled from his cell. "I wouldn't either. The tree shaggers don't care."

Kori sighed as she laid a hand on the ground of her cell. She focused on trying to see, but she was only making her headache worse. After a few more tries she sighed in defeat and sat back against the back wall of her cell. They were truly stuck.

* * *

Sorry for the short chapter. I promise the action picks up again next chapter. And I am so sorry for posting this so late. I was busy registering for summer classes. Looks like I am going to be very busy this year. But I promise I will finish this story.


	10. Chapter 10

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

* * *

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

Kori took a deep breath as she meditated in her cell. It had been a few days since they had been locked up in the dungeon of the Woodland elves. And for being prisoners, it wasn't too bad. They were given three meals a day and plenty of water. Kori had even been giving medicine to help with the spider venom she had been poisoned with.

"Kori." Kori opened her eyes and smiled as Legolas sat down in front of her cell. He had come to visit her at least twice a day. "I see you got the hair ties." He reached through the bars and adjusted Kori's pigtail on her shoulder.

Kori giggled a bit as Legolas fixed her hair. "Thank you. They are lovely." Kori touched the ribbon gingerly. She had found the two ice blue ribbons on her meal tray the previous evening. And now they were wrapped around her hair, placing it back into it's usual style.

"They match your eyes." Legolas grinned a bit as he caught sight of a bit of color dusting Kori's cheeks. "You look better." The dark skinned girl had looked pale since she had arrived with the dwarves. But now she had a glow of health about her.

"I feel much better." Kori gave Legolas a grateful smile. She then pulled water that was still left in her cup and pulled it to her hands. She gave it a small blow to solidify it a bit and then began molding it. "Here." Kori placed a small ice rose in the palm of Legolas' hand.

Legolas was stunned. The rose was beautiful and intricate, no carver could do this. "Usually it is the man who gives the woman a flower."

"Can you make flowers out of ice?" Kori teased Legolas with a grin on her face.

Legolas let a chuckle pass through his lips as he set the frozen flower down. "No, no I can't." He placed his hand over hers on the bar of her cell. "But I can get you out of this cell."

Kori met Legolas' eyes, he was being honest, but he was also hiding something. "I would like that. But I have a feeling it involves betraying Thorin."

"Why do you help the dwarves?" Legolas asked as he leaned in closer to the cells, aware that the dwarves could see what they were doing. "They would give you up if it meant they could continue on."

"I'm not someone in need of rescuing." Kori said with determination. "They are my friends, and I will help them however I can."

Legolas let out a sigh as he met Kori's determined gaze, she was breathtaking. "There's a party tonight. I was hoping you would attend with me."

Kori let out a small giggle. "I've never been to an elven party. Maybe one day, we can go together."

Legolas got up onto one knee, bringing himself up against the bars of the cell. He brushed a hand over Kori's cheek as a smile spread across his lips. "I would like that very much. I will be back tomorrow."

Kori watched frozen as Legolas stood and walked away. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest and her cheeks burn. She sat back and huffed out a breath of air. "How can a man look more beautiful than a woman but still be so damn sexy?" She asked herself before picking up her half eaten piece of bread and munching on it.

Silence filled the dungeon air. Occasionally a burst of sound would come from above, the party was in full swing. "We're never going to get the mountain, are we?" Ori said as he stared up into the ceiling of the dungeon. Who knew how far down they were?

"Not in here you're not." Everyone was stunned to hear their hobbit speak up in the quiet dungeon. And they all began to cheer as they realized what this meant, but Bilbo was quick to quiet them. "Hush! There are guards nearby?"

Kori stood up and gave a stretch. "Time to go." She placed her hands on the bars and pushed them apart easily. One thing she had noticed was that there was no platinum to be found. Lot's of shiny metal, but she had yet to run into the unbendable metal. Kori turned and set the bars back in their proper places once she was free of her cell.

Kori made her way to the closet dwarf cell and pulled the bars apart. Fili gave her a smile as he walked out of his cell. "You could have gotten out at anytime?"

"Never reveal your hand too early." Kori said as she replaced the bars. "Besides, didn't have a plan. But it seems Bilbo does have one." Kori was at the back of the company as they made their way down to the cellars.

As they arrived, they found three sleeping guards and a cellar full of wine barrels. They made their way over to the far wall. It seemed to have a stack of empty wine barrels. "Alright, get in." Bilbo told them as he presented the barrels.

"Are you mad?!" Gloin said as he looked at the hobbit. "We'll be seen."

"No you won't." Bilbo said. "Trust me on this. I know what I'm doing." He let out a sigh as he saw them all hesitating. "But if you don't want to, I guess I can put you all back in your cells." He held up the keys as he spoke. His eyes traveled to Thorin. If anyone could convince the others to go through with his plan it would be their king.

Thorin looked from the barrels to the Hobbit. The little man had gotten them this far, he could get them out. He was a bit surprised that he trusted the burglar, but he didn't let it show. "Do as he says." Thorin ordered as he made his way to a barrel and got inside of it.

Kori watched as the dwarves climbed in. There were more than enough barrels for everyone, but none large enough for her. "I'm not going to fit in one of those."

"Can you swim?" Bilbo asked as he got into a barrel of his own.

Kori helped the Hobbit get into his barrel. "Can a Firefox play poker?" She stifled a laugh as the hobbit shot her a confused look. "Yes, yes I can. What do you need me to do?"

"Pull that lever." Bilbo said as he braced himself in his barrel. "And everyone else...hold your breath."

Kori pulled the lever and watched in amazement as the floor tilted and the barrels rolled down into some sort of underground passage. Thinking quickly, Kori jumped onto the tilting floor and slid down after them. When she saw the water below her she snapped her legs together and crossed her arms. The water was deep enough for her landing, and the current wasn't too strong either. She surfaced and swam after the barrels.

"Well done master Baggins." Thorin patted the hobbit on the back as they floated towards the light of day. Once they reached the light, they were swept away into rapids.

As soon as they dropped for the first time, Kori was swimming beneath them, pulling air down for her to breath. She slowed herself down as she caught sight of a metal gate closing. Placing her feet on the bottom of the river, she launched herself out of the water and through the air. She landed on the white bridge that held the gate. "Mind opening that?" She asked as she pulled water up from the river behind her.

The elf drew his sword and swung at Kori. She easily blocked the attack and pushed the elf back. A chill ran down her spine as she pulled water out of the river and froze it. As she looked behind her and came face to face with an arrow sticking out of the ice. "Oh spirits." She spun back around as the sound of metal on stone drew her attention. An Orc stood above the body of a dead elf. "Not good."

Kori shot water at the orcs that came over the gate wall. But there were too many. She couldn't even find an opening to open the gate again. A flash of gold drew her attention, Fili and Kili were fighting beside her. "What are you both doing?" Kori asked as she shot ice at a pair of orcs. "Get that gate open and get back in the barrels!"

"Don't have to tell us twice." Kili said as he pulled the lever down. He gave Kori a bow as he indicated to the river. "After you my lady."

Kori brought up a wave of water and froze it solid to give them time. She gave Kili an eye roll as she walked to them. Another chill brought her eyes up as she caught sight of an archer of the far bank of the river. "Look out!"

Time seemed to slow down for the three. Kori moved to pull water up to block the arrow, but it slipped past the defensive move. Kili and Fili had turned and spotted the arrow. And Fili pushed his brother out of the way as the arrow sunk into his leg.

Kori pulled water around the three of them as the archer took aim again. Fili was sitting on the ground with his hand wrapped around the arrow that had sunk itself into his thigh. He yanked it out with a growl. "Son of a troll! That hurt." Fili took another deep breath as he got to his feet.

"I'll heal it once we are out of this mess." Kori said as she sighed in relief, his wound could have been much worse. A loud cracking sound resonated within the ice dome. "Looks like they are trying to break through." She touched a hand to the side of the dome. "Can you both swim?"

"Well enough." Kili said as he helped support his brother. "Why?"

Kori walked over to the other side of the dome, it was closer to the water. "Because we are going for a swim." She grabbed the back of both of their tunics before leaning back onto the dome. The dome liquidized as she touched it, allowing them to fall back into the current of the river.

As they surfaced she propelled them forward till they reached the barrels. Then lifted them up and dropped them inside empty barrels. "Time to do some damage." Kori sunk down into the water before shooting back out of the water. As she flew through the air she launched water whips at orcs running along the bank of the river.

Kori used a gust of air to land on the river bank. She picked up her pace to keep up with the barrels, as well as keeping momentum for sending attacks at the orcs chasing her. As she ran she noticed a forest up ahead. It looked dense. ' _We'll lose the orcs there._ ' Kori noted before bringing up a wall behind her and diving back into the river.

As Kori came up she grabbed onto a barrel, she was exhausted. "That was rather impressive, Avatar." Kori looked up as Thorin gave her an approving nod.

Kori chuckled as the current pulled them into the forest. "That...was fun." She chuckled again thinking of what they had just done, and no one died! How that had happened she would never know. But she thanked the spirits for that small miracle.

* * *

It was almost an hour until the current slowed. "We've lost the current." Thorin said while looking around. He looked down at the Avatar. Perhaps she could speed them up.

Kori caught Thorin's gaze and frowned. "I am not picking it up." She let go of the barrel and swam over to Kili and Fili.

"Get to shore." Thorin ordered as he paddled his barrel over to the rocky shore that was nearby.

Kori grabbed the two barrels and dragged them towards the shore, tipping them over once they were in the shallows. Kili stumbled a bit, but no more than if he was dizzy. Fili on the other hand seemed to have trouble putting weight onto his injured leg. He could hobble, but he looked to be in pain. "Sit down before you hurt yourself more." Kori told the blonde as she pulled water out of the river to heal his wound.

As she began healing, Oin walked up to them. "What happened?" He asked in worry as he examined Fili's wound while Kori treated it with water bending. "Looks like an arrow to the leg."

"It is." Kili said as his gaze fell to the ground. "It should have hit me."

"It will be a cold day in hell when I let my baby brother get hit by an arrow." Fili sent a mild glare at his brother. "I promised mother I wouldn't let anything happen to you. And I don't go back on my word." He took a heavy breath as Kori pulled a handful of bloody water away from his wound.

Kori allowed Oin to begin binding the wound after she had cleaned it. "I should be able to have this stitched back together by tomorrow. If we are stopping for the night." Kori said as she spotted Thorin looking around.

"We need to keep moving." Thorin spoke as he kept searching for signs of the Orc pack.

"Just give me a second." Oin spoke up as he continued to bind Fili's leg. "Just finishing up."

"We have an Orc pack on our tail." Thorin said as he turned to see what Oin was doing. He chewed his lips as he saw the healer binding his nephew's leg. "You have two minutes. Then we press on."

"Where do we go?" Nori asked wondering what they were going to do. With an Orc pack behind them they had to move swiftly.

"The mountain. We're so close." Bilbo said as they looked across the lake at the lonely mountain.

Dwalin shook his head at the hobbit. "We have a lake in the way."

"So we go around." Bilbo offered as a solution. No one else was offering ideas.

"We'll be run down in a day." Dwalin countered. They didn't really have any options.

"We must cross the lake." Balin said as he walked up to Thorin. "There is no other way. We need supplies."

"Sounds like you need to go to lake town." Everyone spun around at the new voice that had spoken. An arrow stuck itself into the large stick Dwalin was holding. Another knocks a rock out of Kili's hand. The man then pointed an arrow at the dark skinned woman as a spike of rock poked itself at his throat. "Witch." He whispered in awe.

"Avatar." Kori said as she held the rock spike steady. "Lower your bow."

"Lower your spike." The man said as his feet shifted. The rock was sharp.

"Now now, let's all calm down. No need to go taking heads." Balin spoke as he walked between the two. "I presume you are from lake town." Balin addressed the man calmly.

"I am." The man lowered his bow slowly. He let out a breath as the rock spike lowered away from his throat. "And who are you?"

"We are simple merchants from the Blue Mountains. We are traveling to the Iron Hills to see our kin." Balin began to tell the man. "But we ran into a bit of trouble."

"I can see that." The man said as he looked towards the barrels. "I know where these barrels come from. And whatever blood you have with the elf King, I want no part in it."

"We need food and supplies." Thorin said as he walked up besdie Balin. "Can you get us to lake town?"

"No one enters the town save it be by the Master's leave. And all of his wealth comes form trading with the elves." The man explained as he began loading the barrels onto his barge. "He would sooner see you in chains than risk the wrath of King Thranduil."

"I'd imagine there are ways to enter the town unseen." Balin said with a light air about him.

The man looked at the dwarfs with a chuckle. "For that you would need a smuggler."

"For which we will pay double." Balin said with a smile on his face. He had noticed the man's coat and boots. He was in need of money.

"Deal." The man said as he reached out to the dwarf. Balin shook the man's hand happily. "Once I have all the barrels we will leave."

Kori watched as the dwarves made their way towards the barge. The man was collecting barrels by himself. Kori made her way over to a pair of barrels and pulled them out of the river. "You don't have to help." Kori looked over as the man pulled another barrel that was nearby. "I would never ask for a woman to help out with such taxing work."

Kori laughed a bit. "Well, you didn't. Besides, the faster you get all the barrels onto your barge, the faster we can leave." Kori perched the barrels onto her shoulders and walked onto the barge. She set them down and walked back off the barge to collect more barrels. "Besides, you look like you could use the help. And I didn't catch your name."

"Bard." The man said as he watched the woman in fascination. Although now that he got a good look at her, she couldn't be any older than his eldest. "And yours?"

"Kori. It's nice to meet you Bard." Kori gave the man a smile as she pulled another barrel out of the water and dumped the water out of it. "Sorry about the rock spike earlier."

"Sorry about the arrow." Bard replied as he grabbed two more barrels. "How old are you? And why are you traveling with merchant dwarves?"

Kori shrugged. "They were traveling and I wanted to see the world. So I tagged along." She noticed Bard raise a skeptical eyebrow at her. "And I am 18 if you must know. But I guess winter is coming up. Soon I'll be 19."

"18?!" Bard stared at the girl in shock. "Aren't your parents worried about you? Your husband?"

"I'm not married." Kori said as she dragged her two barrels after Bard towards the barge. "And my parents aren't around." She sat back against the railing of the barge. "What about you? You have a family?"

"I do." Bard set the barrels down as he counted the barrels, it was around the right number. "Three children."

"I'm sorry for your lose." Kori picked up that he didn't mention a wife. Her only guess was that she was dead.

"You're only a few years older than my eldest daughter. She is 15." Bard said as he stepped off the shore to begin the trip to lake town. "My youngest would find your magic extraordinary."

Kori let out another laugh as Bard unwound the rope from the pier and hopped back onto the barge. "It's not magic. It's called bending. I'm using my chi to move the elements around."

Bard let out another laugh as he made his way to the back of his barge and began their journey to lake town. "Sounds like magic to me." He grunted a bit as he got the barge moving, it was heavier than usual. It suddenly got easier when Kori waved her arms around, almost as if the water was pushing them. "Thank you. If I may ask, where are you from? I've never seen someone with skin like yours."

Kori gave the man a smile as she got up form her stance. The boat was certainly heavy with 13 dwarves on it. "I'm not from anywhere around here. I'm very far from home." Kori looked out over the water, fog covered most of it, including the town. "But then again, if you don't have family, where do you call home?"

Bard watched the young woman with a frown on his face. He couldn't imagine what she was going through. He had his mother growing up, and it broke his heart to think of his children being on their own. He cleared his throat as he blinked tears away. "What else can you...ah...bend?"

Kori looked back over at Bard as he got used to the new word. "Almost anything. Sadly I'm still working on wood." Kori tapped her bare foot on the floor of the barge. "But I can find something to bend in just about everything else."

"A scary thought." Bard said as Kori gave him a smile.

"Watch out!" Bard looked forward as one of the dwarves cried out. He easily avoided a large iceberg That had shown itself through the fog. The cold nights was allowing the thick fog to stay throughout the day. And pretty soon the entire lake would be overrun with it.

"Do you mean to drown us?" Dwalin growled back at the barge man. He had to be up to something. Anyone who so quickly accepted deals always was.

Bard fought back a smirk. "I was born and bred on these waters, Master Dwarf. If I meant to drown you, I would not do it here." He turned his attention back to the only woman in their midst. "You called yourself Avatar earlier, what does that mean?"

"An Avatar helps people. And it also means I am a master of all the bendable elements." Kori looked over at the dwarves gathered at the front of the barge. "And they need my help."

"Yours and the hobbit's." Bard stated as he spotted their destination in the fog. "We are close." He left his spot and made his way to the dwarves. "The money, hand it over."

"Not until we get what you promised." Thorin glared at the human. All humans were greedy for their gold.

"No, now. There are guards ahead." Bard checked the distance through the fog once more. He looked back at the dwarf and realized what he was speaking of. The barge man put the bag of gold on his belt. "Into the barrels, all of you."

"I won't fit." Kori said as the dwarves started rendering the barrels. "But I can follow you from the water."

"You will have to remain below the surface for a while." Bard knew the gate and gate watchmen, it was not for swimmers. All sides were watched for at least 10 minutes. "And the water is freezing. You'll die."

Kori smirked as she let a small flame dance over her hand. "Not a chance. Besides, I was born in a land of ice and snow. Cold water is nothing new to me." Kori jumped up onto the railing of the boat with a smile. She gave the men a salute. "See you all in town." She took a step off of the boat and smiled as cold water wrapped around her.

All of the air that she pulled in with her was pulled into one bubble and placed over Kori's mouth and nose. She looked back up at the barge as it made it's way over to an anchored platform. There were fishing nets all around the platform, most of them half full of fish. ' _Please be alright._ ' She prayed as she waited for the barge to move again.

The barge was moving again after a few minutes. Kori easily kept up with the now heavier vessel. The gate into town was a little tricky, but the lower she swam the larger the wholes in the net around the town became. So she ended up waiting for the ship inside of the town.

After about five minutes of the boat sitting there she began to worry. ' _What is going on?_ ' Kori swam closer to the barge. Her eyes widened as fish began to fall into the water. ' _Oh no._ ' Kori made her way up to the bottom of the boat and pressed a hand against it. A quick tap gave her the view above, Bard watching the two men tip a barrel over the edge of the barge while another man also watched. ' _Do something Bard._ '

Kori watched as Bard tried to reason with the man, but he was having none of it. Kori swam out from under the barge and gathered pressure behind her. She let the pressure go and shot out of the water. "Who's that?" Kori heard one of the men ask as she landed on a roof. She pulled water up and pushed the tipped barrel back onto the barge while trying to pull the men off. "She's a witch! Catch her!"

Kori met Bard's eyes before she spun around and began running across rooftops. It didn't take long for her to get far away, but the town was so small there wasn't really anywhere to go. Kori quickly slid down a roof and ended up in an alleyway of some sort. Now she just needed to find someplace to hide.

"Did you see that Sigrid? Told you I saw someone up on the roof." Kori turned and found two girls standing at the mouth of the alley. "Where do you think she is from?" The smaller of the two girls evaded the other's arm as she made her way over. "Hello, I'm Tilda. Why is your skin so dark?"

"Tilda! You can't just ask people that?" The older girl spoke to the younger in a harsh voice. "I'm sorry for my sister. Her manners are in need of improvement."

"That's okay. I'm not one for manners either." Kori gave the two a smile. But the sound of running feet had her pressed up against the building beside her. A pair of men ran by the alley and paid them no mind.

"Are you hiding?" The older girl spoke while looking at the entrance of the alley. "Did you sneak into town?"

"Can we hide her at our home?" Tilda asked excitedly. "Come on Sigrid. Da would be fine with it."

Kori watched as Sigrid chewed on her lip. Then gave a defeated sigh. "Alright, but only for one night." Tilda cheered in joy while hugging Kori. Sigrid reached up around her neck and pulled off her cloak. "You should wear this, your outfit will attract attention."

"I can follow you in from the water." Kori stated as she pointed towards the channel nearby. "It's how I got in."

"But it's cold even in the summer." Tilda said as she shivered thinking about the lake water. "Besides, how will you see us when we are on the walkway?"

Kori gave the girls a wink. "I have my ways." The sound of more running feet caused Kori to tense. Sigrid threw her cloak over the girl and looped her arm around her's. "Okay, this plan it is." Kori walked arm in arm with Sigrid while Tilda swung on her other arm. She made sure her hood was pulled up and that her clothes were covered, and no one seemed to pay them much attention.

After a few minutes they came up to a two story house on a corner. Tilda bounded up the steps while Kori followed, with Sigrid following behind. Kori waited till the door was closed to take her hood down. "Bain?" Sigrid called to her brother as she set her basket on the table. "Bain, where's Da?"

"Out with his barge." A boy came out from the back rooms. "Who's this?" Bain asked as he observed their guest.

"Name's Kori." Kori gave the boy a smile. "Nice place you have."

"Thanks." Sigrid began putting things away. "Bain, go find Da. The Master has people watching the house again." Bain nodded as he grabbed his coat and ran out the door. "Would you like some tea, Kori?"

"That would be very nice, thank you Sigrid." Kori gave the girl a smile. "Now I just need to find the company I was traveling with."

"There are more people like you?" Tilda asked excitedly from her seat at the table. "Are there other woman? Men? Children?" Kori chuckled as the girl pressed on with questions. "Do all of them have dark skin? Can you change your skin color? What-"

"Tilda! One question at a time." Sigrid scolded her sister.

"It's no problem. I've gotten used to it since I have been here." Kori sat down across from Tilda. "And I'm not traveling with other people like me. I'm traveling with a company of Dwarves."

"I heard dwarves bring good luck." Tilda stated as she shuffled in her seat to get closer to Kori. "Where do you live?"

Kori chuckled thinking of all the things they had been through. "Luck? I think maybe if there is just one."

"Da's back." Sigrid stated as she walked towards the door. It opened and Bard walked in with Bain behind him. "Da, we have a guest."

Bard frowned as he looked around to see who else was there. He was very surprised at who stared back at him in shock. "Good to see you found your way Avatar Kori. Bain, let them in." Bard pointed his son down to the lower level of the house.

"You know our Da?" Tilda asked as she got up to watch her brother. Her eyes widened as she saw what was coming out of their toilet. "It's the dwarves!"

Kori looked down and waved as a soaked and grumpy Dwalin. "Need a drying?"

Dwalin looked up at the sound of Kori's voice. "You!" Dwalin pointed at her and strode up the stairs. "What were you thinking lass? They could have caught you and done who knows what."

Kori felt like a child as Dwalin scolded her. "I was thinking you all were going to get caught and thrown into another prison. Plus they weren't going to catch me, I'm too good for that." She ducked down as Dwalin tried cuffing the back of her head. "See?" She rolled away as Dwalin tried again, pulling the water off of him as she went.

"I see our lass found her way back to us." Balin grinned as he caught sight of Kori. "Our company is whole once more."

"Then we can continue without hesitation." Thorin spoke and he walked over to the fireplace. "Get some rest, we move on as soon as possible."

* * *

Another chapter for you all. Please leave me a comment and favorite.


	11. Chapter 11

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

* * *

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

As everyone else settled down for rest, Kori calmed herself to enter the spirit world. The rhythmic snoring and deep breathing had actually become rather soothing. She timed her breathing with the same pattern that was in the room, deep breath in, hold for a moment, and slow release. She repeated this until her mind drifted from her body, ascending itself to the Spirit World.

A smile spread across Kori's face as the long blades of grass tickled her face and neck. She opened her eye and gazed up at the bright sky of the Spirit World. She told and brushed her pigtails behind her as the wind blew past her. "Raava?" Kori called out to the sky, easily spotting the ribbon of movement that was the Spirit of Order.

The large white and blue spirit settled before the Avatar. "Welcome back, young one." The wind danced around them as they basked in each other's presence. Raava could feel the confusion and slight anxiety coming from the young woman before her. "What troubles have brought you here?"

Kori gave the spirit a smile as her ribbons drifted around her in a comforting manner. "I just needed a moment." She went over exactly how to pose her question. "Raava, am I ready for this? I know I've been named Master of the Four Elements, but this is Vaatu and the Convergence. I...I don't know if I can beat him."

Raava gave of a soft chuckle as she floated around the Avatar, placing her at the same level as her. "Believe in yourself, Kori. You are capable of many things." She flew up into the air and looked off towards the horizon, darkness was gathering. "I have learned much from all of your incarnations, and one thing I know is fact, is that you can achieve the impossible when you put your mind to it. And if there is something you must do, then you will do it. And this is something you can not fail. For if you do, those you are with shall fail and perish. And this land shall fall to Vaatu's Chaos."

Kori let out a chuckle at Raava's pep talk. "Looks like I don't have a choice then."

Raava agreed with the young woman. "You will have to make a choice next time you are faced with Vaatu and his new vessel. But first, there is something I must show you." Without another word, she flew towards the opposite horizon. She did not check to see if the Avatar was following, she knew she would. Raava stopped once they reach the edge of a large and vastly different field, and it was also different than how it was a year ago.

Kori frowned at the sight before her. She had been here before, it was the valley of the Tree of Time. But something was very different. "Is that...a third circle?" The tree was exactly where it normally was, but nothing else looked the same. The Northern Portal and Southern Portal weren't in line anymore, making way for a new border into one of the circles. "Raava, what does this mean?"

"It seems you have brought a new world into contact with the spirit world." Raava stated before flying down towards the new valley. "It does not have a portal, and I believe it is wisest to keep it that way. The Benders of your world could easily conquer Middle Earth, and I fear what darkness may arrive should your two worlds meet."

"Not to mention the Orcs, they might be a problem for my world." Kori shivered remembering those disfigured and dark creatures. "But I will keep them safe, I have to now." Kori gazed at the Spirit Portals. She was only present in spirit, so even if she passed through the portals she would only be a spirit, she could not go home.

"I do not doubt it." Raava flew between Kori and the portals, blocking them from view. She could feel the longing the girl had to go home, to see her home, but she had to put them behind her. "The people of Middle Earth will begin to feel the change you have caused their world. They are now connected to the spirit world, and with it, it's power and influence."

Kori nodded as she looked over the blank circle that represented Middle Earth. "I will deal with it once I have dealt with Vaatu. And once Harmonic Convergence is over." She rubbed her head, she had a lot of things to remember.

"Be careful, Kori. There is much darkness upon this land." Raava looked out over the blank circle, seeing the dark spots scattered across it.

Kori let out a short bark of laughter. "What else is new?" She knew there was darkness, she had felt it first hand. "I should return. Thorin seems to be one of those people that act first, think and ask last." Kori settled herself back onto the ground to return to her body. "I'll be in touch."

* * *

Kori slowly opened her eyes, blinking at the curious faces of Bard's children. "What?" Kori asked as all three of them stared at her in awe.

"Your eyes were glowing." Sigrid commented while pointing at her own eyes. She wished her eyes could have been that pale blue color. It reminded her of the morning sun peaking through thick ice.

"And you were floating!" Tilda shouted while throwing her arms into the air.

Kori nodded as she got up and stretched. "I was visiting the Spirit World. It happens every time. And I needed to talk to Raava."

"Who's Raava?" Bain asked. This woman made absolutely no sense to him.

"Raava is a Spirit that lives inside my soul. She's the embodiment of Order." Kori focused on her chi, showing off the tattoos that Raava had made on her soul. "And with Raava I can control all of the elements at once, making me the Avatar."

"Is there another spirit like Raava?" Sigrid asked as she tilted her head in thought. "Surely there must be an opposing Spirit. Otherwise there wouldn't be anyone to oppose Raava is she should choose something unfitting."

"Raava would never do that, but Vaatu would. He's the Spirit of Chaos." Kori looked out the window, wondering where Vaatu and Azog could be. "Luckily though, Vaatu doesn't know how to bend the elements. Technically neither does Raava, but I make up for that. So the only thing he could do is bend Spirit Energy. And lucky for everyone, it's scarce."

She suddenly became very aware of how silent the room was. She spun around, but found the room empty. The Dwarves were gone. "Where did they go?" She looked to all of the children, they all had a different facial expression. Bain looked guilty, Sigrid looked angry, and Tilda looked sad. "Someone tell me something."

"They left." Bain said in a defeated voice.

Kori felt her eyes go wide. "WHAT?!" She could bang her head against a platinum wall. Could Thorin really have done something as stupid as leave without weapons? No, he wouldn't. Kori groaned as she answered her own question. "Why do I put up with this?" She asked as she walked to the door. "I'll be back, and hopefully with dwarves that haven't gotten into any trouble." She told the three before she left the house, heading for the armory.

It was easy to maneuver around the roads, Kori had been running through streets like this her whole life. "Hey you!" Kori didn't even pause as she picked up her pace at the shout coming behind her. And judging by the noise, there were a few people running after her. She rounded a corner and slid between two houses, the armed men running right past her. She gave herself a grin before squeezing back out and continuing along a different route, being much more cautious.

She finaly stopped when she spotted something unusual against one of the building, a dwarf staircase. She had to give them credit, it was well executed. She was about to step out onto the water when a loud crash sounded from the building. And judging by the dwarves' reaction, it was not planned.

She spotted guards coming up behind the dwarves and moved to create an escape. "Gotch'ya!" Kori froze at the sound behind her. She slowly turned with her hands in the air, there were three guards aiming spears at her. "Don't move." A man growled at her as one of the other guards searched her for weapons, and came up empty handed. "Alright lass, no funny business."

Kori just gave him a nod as she followed the guards along the roads. They can to an end of their journey in a large square outside of a seemlingly unbalanced building that was still upright. Kori was shocked it was still in decent condition, it looked like it could topple at any moment.

A loud group was also escorted into the square, the dwarves. "Thanks for leaving me behind." Kori muttered as a few of them looked surprised to see her.

"We tried to wake you, but ya sleep like the dead lass." Bofur commented as he stood beside her. She seemed pissed, but she was probably as unarmed as they were.

Kori shook her head as she looked around the square, wondering what was suppose to happen next. The large double doors on the building flew open, revealing a large pudgy man and a gangly man. "Who is it that has been brought before me?" The pudgy man spoke loudly.

"They were caught stealing from the armory, your lordship." The gangly man spoke while bowing to the larger man. Kori guessed the large man was the Master of the town then, his size certainly attested to his wealth.

"Enemies of the state then!" The Master exclaimed.

"Hold your tongue!" Kori was shocked how powerful Dwalin's voice had come out. She could have sworn he had used a megaphone, if they existed here. "Do you know who you are in the presence of? This is Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King Under the Mountain!"

Kori watched as Thorin stepped forward, ever bit of him the King Dwalin proclaimed him to be. "I remember Esgaroth during it's golden years. Merchants from all over would dock at it's harbor. The streets lined with the finest from all corners of Middle Earth." Kori could see many of the poeple that had gathered looked down, remembering their glory days. "I mean to take back my Mountain. And with it relight the forges of Erebor, renewing the flow of wealth we once shared."

"Death! Fire! And Ruin!" Kori looked over as Bard made his way to the front of the crowd. "That is what you will bring us if you awaken that beast." Bard met Thorin's glare and did not back down. "Do you not remember what happened to Dale? The loss and pain they endured on that day? They will see that day relived. If only to have their gold back for a day." His voice lowered as he approached Thorin once more. "You have no right to enter that mountain."

Kori could feel the air tense as Thorin leaned forward and gave his reply. "I have the only right." Thorin stepped away from the bargeman and looked up at the Master. "I speak to the Master of Laketown. Would you have gold flow from the mountain once more?"

Everyone watched the plump man as he stroked his chin in thought. "I say to you...welcome!" He announced happily. The crowd cheered and clapped with the Master, but not Bard.

Kori sidestepped into the man's path. "We won't let the dragon come here."

"I doubt you have the power to promise such a thing." Kori was stunned at Bard's defeated voice. She did not move as he walked around her, she only watched the company and wonder what they were going to do about the dragon.

* * *

A little shorter than usual I think. But still I've still managed to put quite a bit in there.

Please leave me a review. It's how I know how well people are understanding or enjoying my story.


	12. Chapter 12

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

* * *

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

Fire had always held a strange place in Kori's heart. It was so warm and free, just like herself.

She looked up at the moon, wondering if old Nan was doing alright. She had left her in Port City a few months ago when she had decided to make a trip to the South Pole. But instead of taking the normal water route, she decided to trek through the Earth Kingdom.

It had taken a long time to get through the Earth Kingdom, especially since she hadn't exactly legally entered the country. So she had been sticking to back roads and keeping out of sight. But she was almost out of the Earth Kingdom and into the Fire Nation.

However, Kori had a problem. She had run out of food. She pulled out her purse and looked through the money she had, Water Tribe coins. These were completely useless outside of the Water Tribe, so she was broke. Which meant she didn't have many options available to her; stealing, hunting, street performing, or begging. Stealing and begging were low on her list, and hunting wasn't much of an options either, but neither was performing since she very obviously did not look like she was from the Earth Kingdom.

Kori let out a defeated sigh as she leaned against a tree. "What am I going to do?" She slid down to the ground and buried her face in her hands.

"You lost?" Kori let out a scream at the voice that appeared beside her. She looked over to see an old man sitting calmly while warming his hands at her fire. "Saw your fire from the path, good place to camp, no patrols come this way."

"Good to know." Kori commented as she watched the old man and wondered how he was able to sneak up on her. "Who are you?"

"Name's Bo. And you?" Bo spoke while giving the young woman a smile. She seemed to be far from home.

"Kori." Kori had thought to change her name, but it fit with the normal flow of names in the Earth Kingdom. Earth Kingdom names tended to have an 'o' in it somewhere, or letters that made a similar sound. "Where were you heading? There aren't any villages nearby."

"Oh there is." Bo commented before standing and putting out the girl's fire. "Come." He instructed before the girl could shout at him. "It's dinner time."

Kori said nothing as she grabbed her pack and followed Bo. They walked for a ways down the worn path till they came to a small cluster of buildings. At the center of the buildings was a large fire pit with a large group gathered around it. Kori watched as small children ran up to Bo and started clinging to him. "Why, hello there." Bo spoke to the children as they grabbed onto him. "Have you all eaten already?"

"No." One of the kids spoke with a laugh. "We were waiting for you Bo. Who's she?" As one the kids all looked over at Kori before swarming her. "Are you traveling?" One of them asked while poking her bag. "Do you know Bo?" Another asked while grabbing her hand. "Did you forget to bathe?" The kid that held onto her other hand asked while looking at her skin. "Are you part of the Water Tribe?"

"I think that's enough questions." Bo told the kids with a stern voice. "Kori here is tired and hungry. Why don't you find somewhere for her to sit?" He shooed the kids away before waving for Kori to follow him. "We keep to ourselves mostly, less trouble that way. Especially since we are so close to the boarder with the Fire Nation. We fear that they may suspect we are living on their land."

Kori followed the man towards the gathering of people. They seemed to be preparing for a feast or celebration of some sort. "Well, I'm just passing through."

"Won't you stay for a bit?" Bo sat down on a lone bench. "Juno just had her fourth child, and it's not everyday that the Avatar comes through town."

Kori froze along with most of the others that had heard Bo. "What do you mean? Avatar? Me? I think you might be dehydrated Bo." She lathe as she rubbed the back of her head. She stopped when Bo just gave continued to smile gently. "How did you know?"

Bo waited till everyone had settled down before he spoke. "It's been raining for the past few weeks. We had to dry the wood we are using tonight for the past week so we could use it. Yet you had a strong fire going. And not even a fire bender could get the wood that dry, so you had to be a water bender. And I didn't see any tools to make a fire, so I assumed you could make it on your own. And only the Avatar can use more than one element."

Kori blinked as she listened to the man's explanation. "That's an awful lot of assumptions there Bo." She laughed as the old man cracked a massive grin. "But whatever works I guess."

"Avatar?" Kori looked over at a woman holding an infant. "Would you like to hold her?"

Kori's eyes lit up happily. "Can I?" She gently took the baby as the woman passed her the bundle of cloth. Kori smiled at the little infant sleeping. "I haven't seen a baby since my cousin was born almost two years ago. Aren't you precious?" She coed as the squirmed a bit in it's sleep.

"We still haven't found a name for her." Kori looked over at Juno as a man wrapped his arm around her waist. "It would be an honor if you could name her."

Kori was stunned. She looked around in confusion. "Me? I don't know about that. I'm just trying to survive myself. If I give her a name, I would feel the need to visit, and that would put all of you in danger." Kori looked back down at the little baby in her arms. "What is the use of an Avatar anymore? All I'm wanted for is a weapon, not a guide or guardian. I'm nothing more than a bringer of death and pain."

"The Avatar is the symbols of peace." Kori looked over as Bo spoke calmly. "I did not come across you by accident, Avatar. You are meant to learn something here. Perhaps that something is your reason to fight for your place in this world."

Kori looked from the old man to the couple in front of her. Then she looked down at the little baby in her arms. The infant had woken and was now staring up at her with large blue eyes. "Korra, like the great Avatar that renewed our connection with the spirit world. And I promise you Korra, I'm going to bring the four nations back together." The baby gave a laugh as everyone else clapped loudly.

"Thank you Avatar." Juno spoke as she took her daughter back. "My little Korra." Juno kissed the baby's head as she giggled again. "You like that name don't you?" She coed as she returned to her seat.

Kori smiled as she watched the happy couple. "It's time the four nations stopped trying to be in control. They need to live in harmony otherwise everything is just going to fall apart." She clenched her fists and let out a breath. "I need to fix this."

"Yes, but tonight we celebrate." Bo spoke calmly as he lit his pipe. "Let's eat!" He announced happily.

Kori laughed, ate, and drank in the happiest state she could ever remember being in. She hardly noticed as the sun began to rise again, she wasn't even tired. "Looks like morning. Bo, thank you for everything. I'll be going now."

"Safe travels, Avatar Kori." Bo waved as Kori headed down the path. He had made sure her bag had been packed with enough food for her to reach the next village. He didn't know if she would stop, but at least she would have something.

Kori snuck through the dense growth easily. Bo had been right about the rain, it had only let up a day or two ago, so everything was still slick and moist. It hid the sound of her feet enough and allowed her to move with much ease. And the cooler temperature was an added bonus.

"This way!" Kori ducked down at the sound of the voice. "We saw the fire last night." The voice was very to the point, military. Earth Kingdom? Or Fire Nation? Kori quickly turned to double back and check on Bo and his village. "Hey you!" Kori looked over her shoulder to see a group of at least a dozen Fire Nation soldiers watching her. "Identify yourself!"

"Those are Earth Kingdom clothing. Invader!" Kori had been wearing Earth Kingdom clothing while traveling around, less conspicuous. But it seemed it was now a liability. She moved out of the way as a fireball came her way. "We will deal with this one. The rest of you continue on. Take the dragon with you."

"Dragon?" Kori asked aloud, hearing the roar and wing eat above the trees. "You enslaved a dragon!? How could you?!" Kori shouted at the soldiers as tears gathered in her eyes.

"Silence!" Kori pulled water up from the ground and formed a disk shield to protect her from the various fire attacks that were sent her way. "A water bender?" Kori didn't wait for a response to their revelation. She pulled the earth around their feet up to hold them in place. "Earth bending? She's the Avatar! Kill her! We can't let the earth kingdom have her."

"What makes you think I'm with the Earth Kingdom?" Kori asked as she dodged and blocked more attacks. Water was certainly the easiest to use in this situation, it was in abundance. "Ever think that maybe I traveled down from the Northern Water Tribe? Or I just got out of the Fire Nation from the Southern Water Tribe?"

"Doesn't matter. You're not Fire Nation, so you must die." Kori frowned as the soldiers surrounded her. She spun around and dug herself a hole as all of them attacked at the same time. She froze the water in the surrounding earth to try and cool the hot air around her. A high pitch scream tore through the air. "Looks like we found your little band of supporters."

Kori grit her teeth as she jumped through the fire above her and sustained herself in the air with air bending. "If you hurt those people..." Kori started as her mind slipped into the Avatar state in her rage. The loud cry of a dragon was the last straw. She reached out with clenched fists, holding all the soldiers at once. With a swift twist of her wrist they all fell to the ground.

Kori lowered herself to the ground as she pulled herself out of the Avatar state. She tore her eyes away from the bodies, but only slightly horrified by what she had done, this wasn't her first time killing. The smell of smoke and fire burned her nose and eyes more than her tears. She quickly rushed through the forest, heading for Bo's village.

She froze in her place once she reached it. The houses were still burning, but it was still and silent. Kori walked through the little cluster of houses slowly, hoping someone had survived. She covered her nose and mouth as the smell of burnt flesh reached her, she was too late. She fell to her knees with sob. "I'm so sorry Bo, I did this to you."

* * *

"Kori?" In an instant Kori sat up and looked around her. "Breakfast is going to be gone if you don't come down soon." She looked at the stairs as Kili's voice came drifting up from the floor below. They had stayed at the Master's house for the night after the party that had been thrown in their honor. Kori had been given this room because it was up a set of stairs, so it was separate from the others, and someone would have to pass by everyone else to get to her.

"I'll be right there." Kori spoke as she threw the covers off of her. She took a deep breath as she tried to push the images to the back of her mind. Korra's smiling face was the hardest to banish. ' _I was 11, too young to be making such promises._ '

She got up and washed her face before she dressed in all of her clothes. The Master had granted them access to the armory and told them they could take whatever they wished. Kori had taken a dagger and a sword, but she had used metal bending on the sword and now possessed a pair of metal whips. She hadn't taken any armor, it would only slow her down.

She slid down the stairs on a carpet of air and glided into the dinning room. "So, what are we up to today?" She grabbed an apple from the center of the table before snatching a sausage off of Bomber's plate, he didn't notice.

"Today, we push on to the mountain." Thorin spoke as he set his goblet down on the table. "We don't have much time before Durin's Day is upon us." Kori noticed Thorin's gaze lingering on Fili, she had also noticed his attempts to hide his limping. "Gather your things, we set out immediately."

Kori stayed were she was as everyone scrambled about. She followed Kili and Fili out, keeping an eye on the elder brother and his injury. She had learned that that was how they had been caught the other night. Fili had tumbled when he had put too much weight on his leg, and ended up knocking over multiple suits of armor and other weapons.

As they reached the dock where a boat was set for them to take to the lakeside closest to the mountain, Kori could make out the Master giving a speech. She didn't know what it was about, nor did she really care. She was more focused on the company members. They all looked well rested, but anxious as well. And then there was Kili, he was vibrating with excitement. And then there was Fili, he looked paler than he had earlier.

They all started getting into the boat, but as Fili went to get on, Thorin stopped him. "You are staying here. Rest and recover from you injury."

"I'm going with you." Fili's voice sounded almost like a plea, but still dignified and calm.

"We need speed, and your condition will slow us down." Thorin stated the cold hard facts, he was the leader of this company and in charge of this quest. And they could not fail. "Stay, recover, and join us when you are strong once more."

"I have been dreaming about this. About seeing the Halls of our Forefathers." Fili was losing his composer.

Thorin felt a terrible pain seeing Fili look so broken. "I'm sorry, but I can not let anything stand in the way of this quest, not even my own kin." In an instant Kili was out of the boat and by his brother's side. "Kili, you belong with the company."

Kili shook his head at his uncle. "I belong with my brother."

Kori watched as Oin got out of the boat as well. "My place is with the wounded."

She looked from the group that was staying to Thorin. In the moment where their eyes met, Kori could feel the question Thorin wished to ask of her. She gave him a nod, she would protect them in his stead. "We will join you as soon as we can." Thorin gave a nod before he turned back to the boat and they set off.

"Wait!" Kori looked over as Bofur ran up and watched the boat leave. He slouched a bit before turning and spotting them. "Did you miss the boat too?" His frown deepened as he looked over the small group. "Fili, are you alright lad?" Before his sentence was finished, the blond had collapsed.

"Fili!" Kili held onto his brother as he gently laid him down. "Fili? Fili wake up." He tried waking him as Oin checked him over.

Kori reached over to the bandaged wound and pulled a small drop of blood out. She pulled water out of the lake and mixed the two. A blackened reddish liquid swirled around the water drop. "I don't know if this in an infection or poison."

"We need somewhere to treat him." Oin spoke as he looked around, but no one seemed to be paying them any attention.

Kori noticed the same, the people didn't care about them anymore. "We won't find help here." She knelt down and picked Fili up in her arms. He was fairly heavy, but she had carried heavier. "Bard is our best bet for help." She took of running down the road, the other three following behind her.

They reached the door and Kili knocked loudly. Bard opened the door and looked at them. "I've had enough dealing with dwarves."

Kili stuck his foot in the doorway. "Please, my brother is sick. No one else will help us."

Kori gave Bard a pleading look when he looked at her before opening the door to his home. "You can set him on the bed." Bard pointed to a bed in the corner of the room. He watched as they set the blond dwarf down and pulled the dressing away from his wound. "What do you need?"

"I don't even know what it's infected with." Oin muttered as he fished through his bag of remedies that he had put together at the Master's house.

"Get me water." Kori ordered as she pulled her sweater off, leaving her in her tank top. She uncapped her water flask and pulled the water out of it to start with. It covered her hand and began to glow before she placed it over the weeping wound. She could feel Fili tense as she worked the water into his blood, trying to purify the infected blood. "This is not a normal infection." She grunted as the infected blood fled from her water.

"I know the trick." Oin stated before riffling through his bag. Not finding what he needed, he looked to Bard. "Have you any Athelas?"

"Any what?" Bard had no idea what the dwarf was talking about.

"Athelas, King's Foil?" Oin specified, remembering that men had a different name for the plant.

"Aye. But we feed it to the pigs." Bard said, still confused about why they would want the weed.

"Right, pigs." Bofur spoke before he ran to the door. He paused and looked back at the group. "Don't move."

"Where the hell would we go?" Fili asked in a drunken state. He wasn't sure if he was awake, dreaming, or drunk. All he knew was pain and a strange numbing darkness that also seemed to hurt.

Kori let out a grunt as she pulled her healing water from the wound, it was black. "The infection is spreading through his blood. I can try and purify the blood rather than try and purify the infection."

"How?" Kili asked as he held onto his brother's hand. His skin was turning colder by the minute.

"Blood is made of more than 90% water, so I can bend it." Kori stated as she locked eyes with Kili, asking for permission. The dwarf gave her a nod before she reached to the blood in Fili's leg. He gave a small cry of surprised as the blood flowed against it's natural rhythm. She gave a grunt as a blob of solid black gunk squeezed out of the wound.

Fili let out a small groan. "I don't know whether to vomit or laugh. That felt so weird, but oddly satisfying." He chuckled a bit as he tried to rid himself of the nausea.

Oin watched as Kori dropped the blob into a bucket. "Laughing would be preferable." The small child of Bard brought another bucket of water and Kori pulled some towards her and healed Fili with the glowing liquid.

Kori ghosted the water over Fili, taking care of any of the superficial problems along with some of his nausea. "Don't go getting to comfortable, it's not over yet." She stepped back and braced herself to go for another round of blood purifying.

"Work away Great Avatar." Fili said as his head lulled to the side. "Not like I can go anywhere at the moment."

A silent pause filled the room as the two prepared for another round of treatment, but a sudden noise interrupted them. Kori froze, knowing the sound very well, a dragon. All eyes turned towards the darkened form of the Lonely Mountain. Kori looked to Bard with a frightened look. "You need to take your children and leave."

Bard could see the panic and fright in the woman's eyes, not something he ever thought could happen to such a powerful individual. "Where would we go?"

"That beast will burn this town." Oin muttered as he stared up at the mountain, worried for his brothers.

Bard could see they were all fearful in some way, even if they had known this might happen. He reached up to the ceiling of his kitchen and pulled down an artifact he had long since abandoned, a black arrow. "Not if I down it first." With his declaration, he left the house, he needed to reach the Wind Lance.

* * *

So, anyone looking for a dragon fight?

Let me know what you thought of the chapter. Or the story as a whole.


	13. Chapter 13

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

* * *

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

Kori watched as Bard left his house with the large, metal arrow. She didn't know what he was up to, but she hoped it would help. "Is he going to be alright?" Kori looked over at Bard's son, the boy seemed worried and looked all too young.

"None of us are fine." Kori muttered before looking back at Fili. "Ready for another round?" She asked as she stepped back into her stance. The blonde gave her a nod and she began bending his blood once more. Despite how much she had removed last time, there was still a large amount of that black gunk in his blood.

Fili thrashed around a lot more compared to last time. "Hold him down." The two remaining dwarves held down their friend as Kori worked on making it as painless as possible. When she finally pulled the blackened blob from the wound Fili had passed out. She dropped the blob into the bucket with the other blob. "The infection is spreading faster than I can remote or purify it. And it's making it's way towards his heart."

"Can you stop it?" Oin asked as he continued his work on something to bring down Fili's fever.

"Not without rupturing a blood vessel somewhere." Kori stated as she reapplied a wave of soothing water over the dwarf's skin. "Right now I'm just working in the larger veins. And it's already hard enough trying not to cause any damage as is."

"We done yet?" Everyone let out a small breath at Fili's comment. "Is it suppose to feel so strange afterwards? I've never been so aware of the blood moving around my body."

"It's one of the many reasons why blood bending is banned in my world." Kori explained as she shook her hands of any remaining water. "To control someone so completely, no one should have that power." She noticed the others nod in agreement with her words.

"Da?" The four turned to the door as Sigrid took a step outside. The girl looked around, swearing she heard something.

Time seemed to slow around Kori as a large hulking form of an orc fell in front of the girl, scaring her back into the house. A needle of ice formed out of the bucket at Kori's feet and shot at the creature, burying itself in it's skull. Another orc broke through the thatch roof as more came in through the door and broke through other parts of the roof.

Kori pulled water out of one bucket and the black gunk out of the other. Both swirled around her as she danced around the orc's weapons and hands. She could see Sigrid and her siblings huddled under the table, trying to hide from the attacking creatures. She kept the orcs busy with herself and ignorant of the other non-combatants in the house. She could see the dwarves doing something similar, but the only weapons they had were just things they randomly picked up around the house.

She pulled a long stream out of the toilet behind her and froze the water as much as she could. "Here!" She tossed the makeshift blades to her companions, they seemed to be working better than what they had had previously.

' _How many of these things are there?_ ' Kori asked as another orc fell down through a hole in the roof. But this one did not stand back up. Instead a lithe figure jumped down into the room and started helping them. Only once the figure stopped did Kori realize it was an elf. Another elf had arrived at the door and had also entered the frey, red hair whipping around with her movements.

All at once the orcs abandoned their plan of attacking the house and ran off. Kori followed the woman to the door, finding Legolas looking out at a group traveling along the rooftops. "We must follow." The blonde stated before taking off after the group.

Kori wanted to go after him, but one look back and she could see Fili was not looking well. She frowned seeing the red headed elf looking at the dwarves as well. The sound of heavy breathing at the bottom of the steps stopped her from asking the elf her question. Bofur was out of breath, but he had a fistful of a plant with small white flowers.

"Athelas." The elf whispered almost reverently as she took it from the dwarf.

Kori looked form the elf then to Kili and his brother. "What are you going to do?"

The elf looked her in the eyes with a small smile. "I'm going to save him."

Kori returned the woman's smile. "Then I leave them in your hands. And you can leave Legolas in mine." They exchanged another nod before Kori pushed herself off the banister and through the air with a push of air bending. She would have flown over the town if she had had her glider, but pushes of air and running were doing the trick.

She found Legolas easily, the grunts of pain made it so. She jumped down on top of an orc and knocked it down. Using the metal wires wrapped around her wrist, she wrapped them around the monster's neck before slicing it off.

"Look out!" Kori ducked just as a blade passed over her head, missing her entirely. She moved out of the way of a secondary swing, but she missed the fist that followed the blade. She stumbled back into a pillar, spitting out a mouthful of blood from her now broken lip. She noticed Legolas was a bit dazed, his nose also bleeding. His eyes met her's in an instant. "He is dead."

"No kidding." Kori pulled some water out of the lake and purified it, just to be safe. She took a mouthful of it to wash the blood out of her mouth and spit it out. "But first, let's take care of this." She brought the small ball of water up to Legolas' face, washing the blood off and healing the broken blood vessels and skin.

Legolas stared at the glowing water that was healing him, he had never seen anything like it. "You are unlike anything I have ever seen before."

Kori felt her cheeks redden as she finished healing the man. "Is that a bad thing?" She dropped the used water back into the lake. A hand came up under her chin, tilting her face up. She felt her breath catch in her throat as she met Legolas' ocean blue eyes.

"No, not at all." Legolas didn't understand what he was feeling. He knew of attraction, he had experienced it with Tauriel. But this woman was unlike anything he knew to exist. She could make water glitter like starlight and could make the most delicate flowers out of ice. And he was drawn to her, more drawn than he would ever think he could be to a mortal.

Kori felt her blush flare up as she picked up on the mood of the situation. She had been in situations like this before and it usually ended with either a kiss or a punch to the face. And it was leaning more towards the kiss side of the spectrum. So as Legolas slowly leaned closer to her, she did the same and gravitated towards him.

But now wasn't the time, and the roar of a dragon pulled them back to reality. "We should get back." Kori said as she and Legolas took a step away from each other. She turned away from the elf and started making her way back to the house, hoping to be a lot more calm once she reached it.

"I'm going to track that orc." Kori looked back at Legolas. "That scouting party has to report back to someone. I'm going to find out who that is." Legolas looked from the ground up to the icy blue orbs that fascinated him. "I will come back, I promise."

Kori gave him a nod before he turned and left. She did the same, praying he would come back.

* * *

Shorter than the other, but still good to me. I apologize for the inconsistency of the length of my chapters.

Let me know what you think. And random question, what element would you bend, and why?

I would be an earth bender, because I am very calm and stubborn, but I can also be hot headed(lava bending) and very emotional(swamp bending).


	14. Chapter 14

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

Kori took the stairs to Bard's house two at a time. She walked through the doorway to find the children cleaning up and Fili sleeping peacefully. "Is everyone alright here?" She got a nod from everyone around the room.

"Where'd pretty boy go?" Oin asked as he took a deep breath of his pipe.

"Tracking an orc." Kori said, more to let the elf know where her partner had gone. "We need to leave town before that dragon gets here."

"What about Da?" Sigrid asked in worry. "We can't just leave him."

"And we won't." Kori placed her hands on the girl's shoulder. She was only a bit shorter than her, so she guessed they were close in age. "I'll go and get him. But your dad would definitely be relieved to hear you all were safe. We will catch up to you at the shore of the lake."

"We have a boat down below." Bain offered as a suggestion. "It will be easier than trying to take the bridge."

"Go then." Kori uncapped her water skin and filled it with water. "I'll get Bard and we will meet you on the shore. Keep an eye on his kids." She spared them all another glance before running to the door.

"The black arrow." Kori stopped and looked back at Bain. "Da won't leave without trying to use it. He hid it before the guards arrested him. It's in a boat at the foot of the Master's statue."

"I know where that is." Bofur piped up. "I can lead ya there lass. Good job lad, now leave this to us. Your Da will be much safer without having to worry about your safety as well." The dwarf patted the boy's back before running to meet Kori at the door.

"There's no time." Tauriel spoke urgently. "And we can't leave you to fight a dragon, you'll die."

Kori looked at Tauriel and took a step back into the house. "This isn't the first dragon I have faced. Not the first town to see burn down either. But I will not waste a single chance I have at trying to prevent it."

"Are we going to die?" Kori looked down at the shaking form of Bard's youngest, Tilda.

Kori knelt down so she was level with the girl. "Not today." She wiped the girl's tears gently. "Be brave, Tilda. The strongest warriors can come from the smallest of people. And the most unlikely of heroes are the most memorable." She got a small smile from the girl. "Wait on the shore with your siblings, that's where your father will find you the easiest."

No more words were spoken as another roar broke through the night air. "You should go." Kori gave Kili a nod before she ran out the door with Bofur. "Don't die!" The shout came from behind them as they wove through the streets. They reached the statue and began searching for the arrow, only pausing when a wall of fire erupted in the street beside their's.

Kori jumped to another boat, anxious to find it before the dragon found them. "Got it!" Kori called out as she picked up the metal arrow, it was made of iron and very strong. "Bofur, get out of here while there is still time."

"Not leaving you lass." Bofur said as he followed her back into the streets. There were now people running around trying to escape the fire and the dragon. "Besides, we need to get to the Wind Lance if we want to shoot it." He pointed to the second tallest tower in the town. At least it was before it was burned down by dragon fire. "Well that's not good."

"Metal bending it is then." Kori said as they began heading for the bell tower, the tallest tower in the city. "Bard should be in jail, and to me it makes sense to have jail near the center of town." She just hoed her reasoning was sound. They ran for a bit more before they came across a water channel. "Which way now?"

"Is that it?" Bofur pointed at a building that went over and across the water channel. Kori looked at the building again and it looked like the windows had bars on them. "Can you bend wood?"

"Not yet." Kori commented as they reached the side of the building. "But, wood has water in it and water I can bend." She reached for the small bits of water, even pushing water into the wood, and pulled it down. By the end there was a twisted, but usable, staircase.

"That works." Bofur commented before climbing the stairs into the building. Down the hall they found a single cell to be occupied, and by the very man they were looking for. "That was easier than expected."

Kori placed her hands on the bars and bent the metal enough for them to swing the door open. "We need to take care of that dragon." Bard said as he stepped out of his cell. "But the wind Lance is gone and I don't have the black arrow."

Kori held up the iron arrow. "We've got this and you have someone that can metal bend." She tilted her head back at the bent bars of his cell. "All I need is someone to point out my target."

"A good vantage point would help as well." Bard walked around Bofur and down the hall to the small armory the jail kept on hand. He grabbed a longbow and a quiver of arrows. "Let's go." Kori and Bofur followed the man to a nearby window. They climbed out of the window and continued their journey by running across the rooftops of the town.

The town was already mostly on fire, only a few buildings untouched. The bell tower being one of them. They jumped onto the tower as the dragon let out another stream of fire, burning down another row of buildings.

"That is not a friendly dragon." Kori commented as they made their way to the top of the tower.

"That, Smaug is not." Bofur said as he looked out of the ruined town. "Have you ever met a friendly dragon?"

"In my world, yes." Kori said as she tried to spot the dragon, but he was either obscured by the smoke or too high up to see. As Smaug let out another stream of fire, this one close to them, Kori bent the fire away form them. This gained the dragons attention. "And now he knows we are here."

"Now this is interesting." Kori shivered at the sound of Smaug's voice, it sounded dark and tainted. "I have never met someone that could move my fire to their will. Most are swallowed by it."

"Fire is in my blood." Kori said as she watched the dragon, trying to find a weakness. "I will not let your fire burn any longer."

Smaug let out a laugh, throwing his head back. "You can not escape my fire forever, Fire Tamer."

"You see the spot on his left breast? We're there are some scales missing?" Kori nodded as Bard pointed out Smaug's weak point. "Aim there and he will die."

Kori took a stance as if she was about to catapult a boulder. She may have never fired an arrow, but she expected it would be something similar, just a push instead of a throw. "Lay the arrow on my arm." She lined up her sight with the bare spot on Smaug's chest, waiting for the perfect moment to launch the arrow.

"What can you do?" Smaug taunted the foolish pests at the top of the bell tower. "You have no weapon that can harm me. And now you will burn!" His chest swelled as he gathered breath to blow fire at them.

Kori saw her chance and took a step forward, pushing against the arrow as a jet of fire came at them. Her eyes began to glow as she slipped into the Avatar state, giving the arrow the extra push to bury itself into Smaug's heart and stopping the wall of fire from reaching the top of the bell tower. She released the state and gripped the railing as Smaug let out an unnatural cry, thrashing about in pain, knocking the tower over.

Kori grab the two men as they began falling towards the water. "Hold your breath!" She called out before they hit the water. Kori froze the immediate water around them. Then slowly let out her own breath to unfreeze the water. Then created two small holes in the ice shell, one to pull air in and the other to let the water be pushed out.

"That was brilliant." Bard said with a chuckle, happy to be alive.

Bofur took his hat off of his head and squeezed water out of it. "Just another day with the Avatar."

Kori let out a small laugh as she moved their ball of ice through the waters of the lake. Behind them they could see the remnants of the town beginning to sink. A loud crashing sound alerted them to something larger hitting the water, Smaug's corpse. They were all silent as the dragon sunk deeper into the lake.

"It's gone, the beast is gone." Bard rubbed his face, unsure of how to react.

"Good riddance." Bofur turned away from the sight, done with it all.

Kori said nothing as they continued to move further away from the sinking town. She brought them up to the surface, the air was getting stale. "Brace yourselves." She warned them before she dispelled the ice ball. They weren't far from shore, so it was a short swim.

They all walked out onto the beach as the sun rose at their backs, showing the empty lake to the light of day. "We should find the others." Bofur said before beginning to walk towards a larger group of people down the beach. There was a lot of debris scattered as well, most likely a lot of dead and wounded too.

As they approached the large gathering, Bard made a motion for them to stay put. "I'll be back." Was all he said before immersing himself into the large crowd.

"There they are!" Kori spun as Bofur took off running towards the beach. She could see Fili, Kili, and Oin were getting ready to leave on a boat. They probably wanted to reach the mountain and let the others know that the dragon was dead.

Kori was about to follow, but among the crowd of people she could hear varying cries for help. Another look around and she could see many people were injured. She looked back at the dwarves, seeing their expectant faces, and shook her head before heading for the nearest injured person. She was meant to help people, and so she would.

* * *

Kori focused as she pulled water out of the ground and filled the water jug before her. "Thank you Avatar Kori." Kori gave the woman a smile as she picked up the jug and went on her way. It was a bit past noon, but there was no shortage of work to be done. She had healed as many as would let her and filled more jugs than she could count.

"You're very good at that." Kori spun around with a smile on her face, she knew that voice. She had her arms around Legolas' neck as she hugged him and he hugged her back. "I had feared you may have perished."

Kori took a step back and lightly punched his arm. "It takes more than a dragon to kill me, Legolas Greenleaf." The smile on her face fell a bit when she noticed him look away slightly. "Is something wrong?"

Legolas let out a sigh, he really couldn't hide anything from her. "There is something I must do."

"I will be here when you get back." Kori didn't have to think of an answer, she had heard the answer many times before. Every time her father had to fulfill his duty as the Chief of Police, he never wanted to tell her mother what he was doing. So he would use the same phrase, 'There is something I have to do.' And her mother would always reply, 'I will be here when you get back.' She guessed it was one of the many ways they showed their love for each other.

Legolas had never done anything on an impulse, but this felt right. He took a step forward, bringing his hand behind Kori's head, and pressed his lips against hers. He felt her hands latch onto his vest before her lips pushed against his in response. He pulled back, resting their foreheads together. "I will return for you."

Kori was stunned as she watched Legolas ride away, Tauriel behind him on his horse. Her hand came up and touched her still tingling lips. A smile spread across those lips as she thought of what his felt like against hers.

"He is very pretty." Kori looked beside her as Sigrid raised an eyebrow at her.

Kori let out a chuckle as she placed a hand on Sigrid's shoulder. "Wait a few years, you'll find your man." The two girls chuckled at their innocent moment, forgetting the tragedy that had happened. "So, where else can I help?"

"So far everyone says they have enough water. But that is going to change after we start traveling." Sigrid began walking back to where her father and siblings were. "Do you think the dwarves will help us?"

"They better." Kori said as she followed Sigrid through the crowd. "Otherwise I'm going to teach them why benders are so damn persuasive." She chuckled as she cracked her knuckles. She hoped she didn't have to use force with them, they were friends after all. And the people had helped them so much, they had no reason not to help.

* * *

Yay! Dragon dead and they kissed! I'd say I accomplished much in this chapter. What do you guys think?


	15. Chapter 15

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

After a day or two of traveling, they came to the base of the mountain, and the ruins of Dale. Bard had been recounting stories his mother had told him about Dale in it's glory days, before Smaug desolated it. She could see how it had been a great city, but neglect, ruin, and decay had done it's work on it. Weeds choked the roads and the buildings were falling apart.

"Find shelter and start fires." Bard ordered as they entered the city through the wrecked gate. "Avatar, can I ask you to scout the wall? And fix it where it needs it?"

Kori gave Bard a nod as she took her pack off and handed it to him. With a single boost of air, she leapt up onto the wall and began to run along the outer wall. She only stopped when the wall fell away, leaving a large whole to be filled. "Fix number one." Two stomps brought up a new wall section to replace the part that had collapsed. She placed her hands on the ground and took two deep breaths, super heating the seam between the rocks. Once it was starting to melt she removed the heat and let it cool, melding the rock together. She ran over to the other seam and repeated the heating process.

She looked over to the outside of the wall. The wall itself was tall and thick, but the ground in front of it was rather flat. She placed one foot behind her and brought her hands in front of her. With two short jabs down she created a moat around the wall. And clenching her fist she created stalactites along the bottom of the wall. "That should deter larger things from coming too close."

Kori was rather thrilled to be helping to fortify a city, it had been something she always wanted to do. She may not like war, but the strategy and tactics that were involved intrigued her mind. It was like a large puzzle, and you had to make it so no one could figure it out.

She paused before continuing on, something on the mountain caught her attention. There was fire burning at the gate. But it wasn't uncontrolled, they were watch fires. "So they're alive, I'm glad." Kori turned away from the mountain, she would go see them once the people of Esgaroth were settled in and Dale was refortified.

She continued to run along the wall, patching it as she went. It was only when she reached a large section of melted wall did she have to spend time fixing it. It was surreal to see the wall warped and melted like it had been made of wax instead of stone. The power of dragon fire was immense.

Kori slid down the melted wall till she was on solid ground. She spun and faced the wall in a deep stance. She took deep breaths, heating up her chi. She reached out and smiled as the wall heated up, starting to sag more. She slowly lifted it back up into place, being careful not to push it back to far. And once it was in place, she released the heat and stood still with the wall cooling in her grasp.

' _Hold the dirt till it's set, otherwise you're just going to have to shape it again._ ' Kori smiled as she remembered the teaching of her old master. Blind and crazy as he was, but he was a good teacher. Kori let the wall go after a testing shove, it was solid. ' _Know how to tell if something is solid? Jump on it._ ' With a leap of air bending, she got back up atop the wall.

Looking out beyond the wall she stomped her foot down hard, continuing the mote she had started. "Good old Tofu." Kori chuckled before she continued her journey around the wall.

It only took her an hour to get all the way around all of the walls that made up the city. She found Bard again at the topmost lookout point. "Walls are fixed."

"Thank you, Avatar." Bard gave the woman a smile as he finished giving orders to the rest of his men and setting up watch. "You've been a great help to us, I don't know how we could thank you."

Kori gave the man a small smile, this all felt far too formal. "You can just call me Kori. I didn't do any of this for any kind of reward or thanks. This is what I do." She looked out over the city, it was living again. Small fires dotted the city in lights. "How's your water supply?"

"It's getting low, but unless we can get enough food for everyone then it won't matter how much water we have." Bard shook his head, he couldn't think of a plan to help his people. "You should rest, you've been working harder than all of us."

"That's because I have the most to give." Kori gave Bard one more comforting look before heading back into the small camp set up nearby. As she looked around all she could see was sadness and despair. People sitting around hopelessly and others occupying the children with games and stories. ' _They've lost so much._ '

Kori took a deep breath before she slowly let it out, letting the wind she created pick up the dust around her. Taking a step forward, she spun and brought her hand up, shifting the dust and wind around her. Continuing her walk, she gave shape to the dust, a galloping horse.

She smiled as the children pointed and clapped at the sight. She stopped and sent the horse off, vanishing in a puff of dust against a wall. The children continued to clap and cheer. Kori pulled the dust back to her, condensing it and shaping it. She clapped her hands over the ball of dust, scattering it into butterflies. She giggled as the children tried to catch the dust bugs.

"Thank you." Kori looked over at a woman standing near her. Her face was covered in dirt and dust, but the smile on her face was bright.

"My pleasure." Kori returned her smile. She looked back at the children, they didn't have a worry in the world. 'This is something else I can do.'

* * *

Kori was gently woken by the rising sun. She hadn't used much energy the previous day, so it was normal for the sun to wake her so easily. She threw her thin blanket off of her and rolled off of the shelf she had used for a bed. The solid rock had been a nice change from the soft earth she had been sleeping on before. She missed her sleeping bag, tented room, and hard, cold tundra.

With another yawn and a stretch, she grabbed her sweater and pulled it over her head. She fixed her hair and tied it into a single braid behind her head. With a splash of water on her face she was ready for the day.

She walked out of the small hut she had picked out for her shelter and found almost no one else was awake. Walking around she soon came across Bard doing the same. "So, what are we doing today?" She fell into step beside him, hoping to relieve her boredom.

"I don't know." Bard rubbed his tired eyes. "Unless we can find some food, we'll all be dead in three days." He could see Kori was now lost in thoughts about what they could do. He felt bad for involving the young woman, but she had proven that she was as capable as any of the adults. They are across one of their lookout points and checked with the man in charge of it. "Alfred, anything to report?" He asked the Master's steward with apprehension, he did not trust the man.

Alfred's head lolled to the side as he looked at the passing Bard and Avatar. "Not a sound to report. Nothing gets past me." He stretched as the two stopped and looked out over the courtyard.

"Except an army of elves." Bard regarded as he looked at all of the soldiers in the courtyard, perfectly lined. He stepped down into the courtyard, hoping to learn why they were invading. The elves parted, creating a path. He continued through until the sound of hoofs alerted him to someone approaching. "King Thranduil." Bard greeted the elf in surprise.

Kori looked at the majestic elf in wonder, he was beautiful and reminded her a bit of Legolas. She noticed Thranduil seemed to be studying her just as attentively. "I had heard you were in need of assistance." Thranduil answered as he turned his attention away from her and to the man standing before him. He then directed both of thier attentions to a wagon that had pulled into the courtyard, loaded with food.

Bard was stunned as the elves began giving food to his people. "My thanks would not be enough to convey my appreciation." He told the elf as he bowed his head.

"I did not come here solely to aid you." Thranduil spoke before turning the elk he was riding on back the way he had come. "I came to get what I was owed."

Kori followed the elven king's line of sight, Erebor. "You seek gems in that mountain?" She froze as his eyes met her's. She could feel a darkness tainting his spirit, but it had yet to latch onto it fully, but the wound it festered in ran deep.

"My son was not exaggerating." Kori was caught off guard by Thranduil's remark. In an instant it clicked, Thranduil and Legolas looked similar because they were father and son. "Do you know where my son is?" Kori shook her head, she had not heard from him since he had left after Esgaroth had been destroyed. "Very well then." With his last remark he spurred his mount, traveling through the city.

Kori watched as Bard shook his head before following after the elven King. She understood what Thranduil meant to do, he meant to take what he believed was his, through force if needed. With a leap of air bending she was on the rooftops and running towards the outer wall. ' _I have to let them know what is going on._ ' As she reached the outer wall she took one more leap, lighting a fire under her feet and flying towards the Lonely Mountain.

* * *

Darkness is everywhere. Kori is going to have so much fun purifying everything.


	16. Chapter 16

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

* * *

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

Kori landed on the stone battlements lightly. The mountain was a wonder, intricately carved and larger than life. She had to give the dwarves credit, they made amazing works with their hands. With a tap of her foot she found the others deep within the mountain, as well as a map of the mountain. She quickly made her way down the pathways and stairs to were the company was located.

She rounded a corner and was stopped by two different feelings. The first was awe, there was more gold in this room than she thought could possibly exist in an entire country. The second was dread, a cold and dark presence was living in this room.

"It's Kori!" Kori looked up as she spotted a head of golden hair. She waved back as Fili waved her up to the top of the pile of gold. "What do you think of the Treasure Hall of Erebor?" Fili asked as he waved his hand to the rest of the room.

Kori stared at how large the room was, it went on for miles by the looks of it. There were calls from the others below them. She and Fili slid down the pile of gold to join them. "I'm glad to see you're all okay. I was worried when that dragon came down to the town." She gave them all a smile as they waved off her worry. "So, what are you all doing down here?"

"What are you all doing?" Kori looked over at a fancily dressed Thorin, he did not look like himself. "Avatar, how good of you to finally join us."

"Thorin? What is going on here?" Kori watched the dwarf in worry, his eyes were dark and something was clinging to him that she was having trouble to identify. But the dark and dreadful feeling got worse as he got closer.

Thorin frowned. "Searching for the Arkenstone of course. This was the plan from the start of our quest. And now that you are here, work should go much more swiftly."

Kori blinked a few times, why would he need a single gem when he had an entire mountain? Her eyes narrowed as a wisp of something came off of Thorin's back. A subtle movement of her hand revealed the Spirit clinging to the Dwarven King. "Oh Spirits." Kori cursed as she took a step back to try and pull the spirit away from Thorin. But the spirit seemed to sense what she was about to do and knocked her away with it's tail.

The dwarves were stunned as Kori was suddenly thrown back into a pile of gold. No one had moved except for her, but the step back she had taken should not have thrown her back with such force. "What is going on?" Dwalin asked looking from his King to the woman.

Kori lifted her self while shaking her head, hitting gold was not fun. "It's a dark spirit, and it's clinging to Thorin."

"What do we do?" Oin was not familiar with wounds spirits inflicted, if any. And he would rather not have to deal with any injuries he could not fix.

"Stand back." Kori took her stance again as she went into the Avatar state, it was the easiest way to spirit bend. She reached out towards the spirit clinging to Thorin and pulled, pulling the spirit and dwarf towards her. She changed tactics, using one hand to push Thorin away as the other hand pulled the Spirit towards her. The spirit gave a shriek as it began to lose it's grip on the dwarf.

"What is that?" Kili asked as he covered his ears and stared at the black mass that was being pulled from his uncle. He looked around at the others, but they did not seem to notice the details of what was going on. His brother was also looking at him with worry.

"No!" Kori called out as she could see the Spirit trying to merge with the dwarf as a last resort. She started to push harder, but it would not work with only one hand. "Hold Thorin!" She shouted at the others, springing them into action. With her hand now free to pull at the spirit, she pulled with everything she had. The spirit let go of the dwarf, using the momentum to propel itself into a large pile of gold behind the Avatar. Kori released the Avatar state, it was draining to use it so often and for long periods of time, she was unused to it.

Kili watched and listened as the screeching tuner into a loud crashing. "So that's what a Spirit looks like?" He looked over at Kori, she was on her feet and standing between them and the spirit.

"A corrupt one, but yes a spirit." Kori uncapped her water skin, she had one shot at this.

Thorin shook his head as he sat up. "I thought I was losing my mind." He had been aware of what he was doing. He had even thought they were his own decisions. But looking back now, he knew he was not in the right mind at all. "What do we do now? Can we kill it?"

"No, you can't kill a spirit, but I can purify it." Kori watched the gold, looking for the spirit. "You need to get out of here." The pile of gold the spirit landed in began to shift, rising and giving itself shape. "Run!" She could here the clatter of coins as the dwarves began to run for the exit. The large form gave a roar, sending gold coins in their direction. Kori pulled the gold behind her up into a wall, shielding the company. "You're focus is me, spirit."

She watched with weary eyes as the gold shifted a bit more, almost taking the form of a lizard or wingless dragon. Kori let out a slow breath as she pulled the water out of her water skin. "Just a cleansing, easy peasy." She chuckled as the spirit shook itself, shifting the coins and making it's armor more compact. This was going to be an interesting cleansing.

* * *

The dwarves did not stop until they reached the main hall. "We shouldn't have left her on her own." Dwalin cursed as he punched a column.

"There was nothing we could have done, only gotten in her way." Balin said as he caught his breath. "If that spirit had taken control of one of us, she would have had to pull it out and start all over again. We can not even see the spirit, let alone fight it."

"I trust her." Thorin looked back down the stairs that they had run up.

Kili shook his head, he had seen the spirit. "She didn't have enough water." The others looked at him in confusion. "Don't you remember? Back in the woods she used gold glowing water to cleanse that deer. And she used a lot of water to do it. And that spirit was much larger than a deer."

"How is she going to get more water though?" Fili asked as he tried to think of something. "All that's down there is metal and stone."

"The fountain!" Balin spoke up, startling a few people. "I saw it while we were looking for the Arkenstone. It didn't look damaged, but there was no water."

"The source must be blocked then." Thorin turned to one of the staircases that led up.

Bilbo shook his head as he processed what everyone was saying. "What are you talking about? What fountain?"

Thorin gave the hobbit a small smile. "It's one of the great wonders of Erebor, Master Baggins. There is a river that flows down from the peak of the Lonely Mountain and we diverted it into the mountain as a source for fresh water." He turned and ran up the stairs.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Bofur asked as he ran after Thorin. "Let's go clean some pipes!"

* * *

"Gah!" Kori shouted as she landed on another pile of gold coins. She was pulled down as the coins loosened beneath her, gravity pulling her down the slope. She quickly got to her feet as the gold coated spirit launched itself at her. Shooting fire out of her feet, she launched herself out of the way of an avalanche of gold. ' _This is ridiculous._ '

She landed on another pile as the spirit roared at her, hurtling gold coins at her. She easily ducked under the flying projectiles. She gathered a ball of air in her hands before sending it flying at the spirit. A few coins scattered, but the spirit just dove onto a pile, gathering more. "Oh come on!" Kori grumbled as the spirit's armor grew thicker.

The spirit launched itself off of the pile and towards Kori. Kori flipped off the pile and propelled herself away with more fire bending. "Just hold still and let me cleanse you already." She twisted around and directed more air at it, only scattering a few coins. ' _Once I find more water._ ' Kori added to herself as she landed in a large valley among the golden peaks. She really wished she had not tried to cleanse the spirit so early.

The spirit spirit landed in front of her and roared, a few coins cutting into Kori's skin. But a loud gurgling and grumbling over powered it's sound. Kori and the spirit looked around in curiosity. Kori smirked as she noticed the piping around her as well as the telltale sign of a lip behind the spirit. "Of course they have a massive fountain in the middle of their mountain." And sure enough, water started poolling around Kori's feet.

"Alright, time to hold still!" Kori glared at the spirit, gathering her heat. She threw a forward punch, pouring as much emotion into it as she could. The red flame coming out of her fist turned blue, engulfing the spirit and heating the metal enough to melt it. Kori kept the fire going, stopping before it became too liquid for the spirit to control. She was almost mesmerized when the molten metal began to look like a dragon, wings were even folded on it's back. The metal began to cool once she removed the heat from it, but the spirit could still move astonishingly well as the metal solidified itself.

Kori reached behind her and pulled as much water to her as she could. She quickly threw it in front of her, encircling the spirit. She took a deep breath to calm herself, she could not cleanse it in such an angry state. Connecting the water into a continuous loop, she bent the water around the spirit, cleansing it. Golden light filled the water as the spirit began to glow as well. Once the spirit was bright and clear of darkness it began to return to the spirit world, free of any attachment to this world. "Be at peace." Kori told the spirit before bowing to it in fair well.

Kori fell to her knees once the spirit was gone. "Wahoo!" She cheered as she laid back in the gold filled fountain. She looked back at the pile of gold that the water was coming out of. ' _Might as well clear the fountain._ ' She got back to her feet slowly, fighting spirits was tiring. It was easy to clear the top of the fountain, she just had to push the gold and jewels off of it. It was getting all of the gold out of the fountain that took Kori a good hour.

Once she was done there was a good two inches of water in the fountain. "Maybe the pipes are clogged with gold?" She was curious so she jumped to the top of the fountain. And sure enough, there was gold in the pipe. She managed to pull out most of it easily, but then there was a large gem stuck in it. "So you want to be difficult?" Kori cracked her knuckles as she reached for the gem, giving it a firm tug. The gem was dislodged and a large stream of water came with it.

Kori managed to catch herself on one of the tiers when she was pushed over by the fast moving water that was released. She looked down at the purple gem in her hand. "You had to be so difficult?" She tossed the gem into a nearby pile as she pulled herself out of the stream of water.

"Kori?" "Avatar?" She gave a sigh as she heard the others calling for her. She was glad she had taken care of the spirit.

Kori used the water in the fountain to get back down to floor level. "Over here!" She called out, hopefully pointed the others in the right direction. She was still fishing coins out when the others arrived. "Nice fountain you got here."

"Nice dragon you got there." Fili commented as he looked up at the dragon statue in the fountain. "Now that is a dragon I can live with."

"I needed it to hold still." Kori stepped up onto the lip of the fountain and bent all of the water off of her and back into the fountain. "So, any other spirits lurking around?"

"Haven't seen or heard any." Kili commented while looking around. He hoped there weren't any more.

"Kili, enough." Thorin looked over at his nephew with a critical eye. "We should go, we have guests arriving."

"Guests?" Kori asked as she followed the others back towards the main entrance. "What happened while I was dealing with the nasty beasty?" she looked around the company, but they all diverted her attention to Thorin.

"An envoy from Dale stopped by. Esgaroth burned because of our folly and it's people are without a home, much like we were. Winter will soon be upon us and they are in need of better shelter than Dale can currently offer them." Thorin explain calmly as they began the climb to the main floor of Erebor. "Now we just need to survive winter and a bunch of elves."

"Elves? What? Wait, Thranduil? All he wants are jewels he thinks are his." Kori wondered what had happened between the elves and the dwarves. They did not seem to like each other, even though they lived so close to each other. It kind of reminded her of her home world.

"He will not settle for only his claim." Thorin growled remembering the conversation with the damn blonde elf he had only just finished before he went to aid the others in finding Kori. "I was willing to give him the jewels he was promised, but nothing more. His greed is worse than a damn dragon's."

Kori let out a sigh as she stopped on the main floor. The dwarves continued on to finish preparing for the arrival of the people of Esgaroth. Bilbo stopped beside her and gave an equally annoyed sigh. "Elves and Dwarves have never had good relations."

"Better to have some allies than have everyone be enemies with everyone else." Kori stated matter-of-factly. If all of the races were against each other it would be a parallel to her world, all of the nations enemies to each other. "Why can't people ever just get along?" She asked no one in particular.

* * *

Another chapter done, and we see change. Thorin will still be a bit hostile, no one but the company will be allowed near the treasure hall. But he is a dwarf with honor, and he will honor his word.


	17. Chapter 17

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

* * *

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

Kori had watched the people of Esgaroth begin the journey to Dale, but it looked like so many more people when they walked into Erebor. But to give them credit, they were going through a much smaller entrance, so it took a lot longer and looked like a lot more people. It reminded Kori of the migrating koala otters, they were never in small groups.

"Thank you Kori." Kori looked over as Thorin joined her on the stairs overlooking the front gate. "I don't know what I would have done if you had not freed me from that spirit." Thorin was watching the people fill his mountain, imagining them to be his people that were still living in the Blue Mountains, or scattered across the whole of Middle Earth.

Kori could see Thorin watching the people, but not seeing them. "It's better not to think of it." Her gaze was pulled to the ruined gates, still scarred from the dragon. "Will you really go to war over a few jewels?"

Thorin let out a sigh, he understood that she was from a different culture, but it still frustrated him. "Everything in this mountain was made by the hands of my people. Their sweat and pride is carved into every coin and woven into every tapestry. I know how much it is valued, both by my standards and by other's. And I see it as much higher."

"Your people are lucky to have you." Kori could almost see his pride cloaking him, she respected that.

"As are yours." Thorin noticed Kori mood instantly fall at his words. "Even if they do not know it, they should be proud to have you as their Avatar. We are grateful you have been ours."

Kori chuckled softly as she looked up and stared at the intricately carved ceiling above her. "You know, I never thought I would ever find somewhere I might consider calling home. It's nice." A small smile covered her lips as she let her senses sink into the earth beneath her and spread out into the air around her, it was comforting and peaceful. She let out a sigh, dispelling her worry and sorrow. "So, what are we going to do about Thranduil? So far it's fifteen against an army."

"Bard has offered his help, as well as some of the men with him have also offered their strength." Thorin crossed his arms as he thought of the coming battle. It would not be easy, but he had already sent for aid. He noticed Kori's questioning look at his obvious show of confidence. "Do not worry about it."

"Alright." Kori would not worry about, but she would certainly keep a watch over what Thorin had planned. She noticed the crowd of people was thinning. "Looks like we are coming to the end. I'll close the gate." She walked down the stairs and waited till the doorway was cleared.

She grabbed onto the two destroyed doors and tore them off of the hinges. "Oh look, firewood." She left the doors on the floor and walked back to the open doorway. She stomped one foot down and brought both of he hands down with it. She slid her foot forward as her hands came up, pulling a large, thick slab of stone with them. A thrust forward snapped the door in half, allowing it to be opened. And a few waves of her hands on the side put hinges into place. "Done."

"Nice work." Dwalin was fairly impressed how easily the Avatar had made a new gate. "That's gonna take a year to carve."

"You can start whenever you want." Kori commented while turning away from the blank door. "I also made it easy to open."

"Easy for you, or easy for us?" Dwalin asked while following the woman. They both chuckled as they began walking towards one of the meeting rooms. Dwalin pushed open the door to the war room. "Let's see what they've got planned for tomorrow." Inside the room was Thorin, Balin and Bard. "So, what's the plan?"

"We need hold out as long as we can." Thorin said while staring at a map of the mountain and surrounding area. "And staying out of sight will be important, otherwise we will have more quills in us than a porcupine."

"I wouldn't put it past Thraduil to have his men scale the walls." Kori looked at the scale model of Erebor, it was very detailed.

"I've already ordered for the water way to be released." Thorin countered the Avatar's worry. "The current is too strong for anyone to safely cross it."

"That gives me something to work with." Kori noted while thinking how she could sue that to their advantage. She noticed everyone else looking at her to elaborate. "I can use the water to freeze the field, while leaving the source itself flowing enough to deter anyone who didn't get frozen. If the army can't move, it can't attack."

"And if we get them while they aren't prepared, they can't shoot either." Dwalin smirked thinking how effective that could be.

Bard stroked his chin thinking how plausible that could be as a strategy. "How much water would that take? Is there enough?"

Kori quickly tapped her foot, mapping out the mote and water levels. She tilted her head as she calculated it. "I can get a few hundred feet."

"A few hundred feet would only cover about a third of his army." Thorin had hoped for better, but knowing the elves and their ways they would be spread out. "What can we do about the other two-thirds?"

"Pray they don't have anything to counter ice and water?" Bard offered. He wasn't well versed in war, but he could see they didn't have much to work with.

Balin nodded before looking to Thorin. "The Raven should have reached him by now." The King gave his friend a nod, knowing he was right.

Kori looked questioningly between the two dwarves. "Who?"

"My cousin, Dain, Lord of the Iron Hills. By dawn tomorrow we should have an army of dwarves to aid us."

Kori pushed herself away form the table, it looked like everything was set. "Looks like you're ready."

Dwalin gave a small scoff. "No one is ready for war."

"Not unless you were bred for it." Kori commented mostly to herself, but she guessed by the shocked faces of a few people in the room, they heard her. She turned away from them and left the room. She followed her feet through the mountain, heading away from the feel of any source of life, she wanted to be alone.

She soon found herself in a market looking area. Abandoned shops filled the small street on either side. Kori walked through slowly, avoiding the skeletons that littered the ground. She left the graveyard, heading down another road.

She stopped once more when a long corridor spread in front of her, the walls carved to perfection. Kori ran her hand over the carving, fascinated by the details. She didn't know what the carving was, but it was perfect, as though the mountain itself had done it. The dwarves were certainly impressive in their works of stone. Not even the carvers of the Earth Kingdom could match this.

At the end of the hall, she found herself in a large circular room with many paths. But it was the room that held her attention. A shaft in the ceiling was reflecting moonlight into the room, lighting the gems that were imbedded into the walls. The floor was a smooth piece of marbled granite, cold and flawless.

Kori sat in the middle of the room, feeling the peace and tranquility of it. ' _Might as well prepare._ ' Kori easily fell into her meditation routine, relaxing and focusing while she rested.

* * *

A loud rumbling is what woke Kori from her meditation. "What?" She got up and quickly ran back to the entrance. As she got closer to the entrance the rumbling change to the sound of a horn. ' _Do they have a horn built into the mountain?_ ' She honestly wouldn't put it past them, it was an interesting idea.

When she ran into the front hall, she found everyone dressed for war. "Did no one think to wake me?" She chuckled as they all looked at her in a mix of surprise and relief.

"We didn't know where you were lass." Bofur offered as an explanation. "Ya haven't missed much."

"Just Thranduil making demands. And Thorin refusing them." Bilbo explained calmly, still dressed in his traveling clothes. "Gandalf is trying to calm them both down before any actual fighting takes place."

Kori gave the hobbit a nod as she climbed the stairs to the top of the battlements. She found Thorin, grim faced and standing proud like the King he was, staring down at the blond elven King and the grey wizard beside him. "Do you truly mean to shed blood over such trivial matters?! War is upon you! And not with the elves."

"Thranduil demands more than he has right to." Thorin's expression turned icy as it shifted to the elf. "I had refused you when you meant to use it against me in your own lands, but now I have given my word to honor the agreement, yet you demand more. Do you not wish to end things peacefully, elf?"

"I do not expect a dwarf to know what I wish." Thranduil retaliated in a calm voice.

Gandalf shook his head. "This is madness! An Orc army is coming to kill us all! Yet you all squabble over gems and-" Gandalf was interrupted as a loud crash was heard across the valley. Kori stared as large worms dug their way out of the earth before tunneling back into it, leaving large gaping holes. And soon there were other creatures coming out of those holes.

"That's not good." Kori commented as she felt a wave of darkness, Vaatu was nearing.

Another horn blast rang through the air from the crest to the west of the mountain. "Dain." Thorin breathed out in relief as the army of dwarves came over the hill and into view. Almost as soon as the army came over the hill, a rider on a large boar led them toward the on coming army of orcs. They set up a line between the army and the mountain, meaning to stop them.

Kori noticed the dwarf army prepare for the incoming troops and the elves did not move. "Are the elves just going to stand there?!" She watched in horror as the orcs came closer to the dwarves. It was then that elves moved, leaping over the Dwarven line and engaging the orcs first. "Guess they wanted first kill after all." She chuckled along with Dwalin as the older dwarf just shook his head.

Thorin took a step back from the edge of the battlements. "I'm going down there. Who's with me?"

Kori smirked as all of the dwarves cheered. She cracked her neck and knuckles as she followed beside Dwalin. "Time to break some necks."

Dwalin shook his head again, the girl was a strange one. She looked and acted so young, yet she was a true warrior at heart. It pained him a bit to know she had already experience war and killing. But now was not the time to think of such things, now was the time for war. "You said it."

* * *

Battle chapter next. Any guesses of what's going to happen?


	18. Chapter 18

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

* * *

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

Kori gave a small grunt as she pushed the doors open, they were massive slabs of solid rock. Beyond the safety of the mountain, war was raging across the valley. Large orcs, small goblins, and other dark creatures slashed their way through the army of dwarves and elves. A band of large trolls were doing the most damage at the moment, and making their way towards the mountain.

"Avatar Kori, can you clear a path?" Thorin could see where his cousin was fighting with his large war hammer. But there was a number of enemy troops between them.

Kori smirked as she submerged herself into the Avatar mode. "Leave it to me." She rose in the air as a ball of air condensed and grew beneath her feet. "Try to keep up." In an instant she was hurling towards the enemy line. Elves and Dwarves moved out of her way as she tossed orcs out of her path.

A troll took notice of her and moved to intercept her. Kori smirked as she launched herself into the air, positioning herself above the troll. She brought her foot down in a kick, but her foot never connected. Instead a plume of blue fire rained down on the troll, leaving him as nothing more than a charred husk.

Kori landed on the ground beside the troll, ignoring the foul stench of it's burnt flesh. The look of the orcs, elves and dwarves around her was amusing. She held her hands up and lit two blue flames in her hands. "So, who's first?" She let out a genuine laugh as a only a single orc out of the group charged after her.

She ducked under his jagged blade as she pushed a fireball towards him. The Orc sidestepped out of the way and barreled into Kori, pushing her back. Kori brought her hands up in a cross pattern as the Orc was skewered by two rock spikes. "Take that-" She was cut off from her comment as a large hammer sent her flying. She landed and rolled before she stopped herself and sat up. She glared at the troll that had obviously knocked her away. "You are going to pay for that."

"Who's the lass?" Kori looked over as a large red headed dwarf looked at her curiously. "You alright there lass?" The dwarf offered her a hand up. He then looked over at Thorin. "Ya know her?"

"Thorin." Kori greeting him as she got up, sending a spike into the heart of two orcs trying to get a hit on her back. "We're severely outnumbered." She spun and gave a heavy stomp, sending a large spike at a troll coming up to attack them.

"I agree with the lass." The red head agreed while continuously moving about and killing orcs. "Have ya got a plan Thorin?"

Kori followed Thorin's gaze as he looked over to a ruined watch tower. There were flags set up on top of the tower. "We take out their leader." Kori gulped as a wave of darkness came down from the tower, Vaatu was up there. "Dain, I leave the battlefield to you."

"Thorin, why do you have to go?" Dain asked his cousin with a bit of worry. "Surely someone else can do it. You're the king."

"That's why I have to do it." Thorin told his cousin as he looked for the others. At that moment, Dwalin rode up on a large ram.

Kori could see Dain wanted to go and protect Thorin. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I will keep him out of trouble Lord Dain." She got a bow from him before she made two air spheres and followed after the dwarves, weaving around the enemy as she went.

When they finally reached the top of the large hill the tower was on, they were met with orcs. Kori didn't waste time and easily brought down any orcs in her way. When the orcs were dealt with, the plateau was silent. "What is this place?"

"Raven Hill, a look out post." Thorin commented as he gazed across the frozen water to where the enemy flags where located. "Where is he?" He asked with a frown.

Kori felt a shiver as she spotted a purple glow in the fog. "He is here." The sound of cracking and falling stone had everyone backing up. A large purple figure began to grow across the way. It was easy to see that it was Azog, the astral figure was well detailed.

"What the devil is that?" Dwalin asked as he looked up at the monstrosity that was before them.

"Astral form." Kori explained briefly. She looked over at Thorin. "I will split him form Vaatu, he is my problem to deal with." She got a single nod from the Dwarven King. ' _Looks like Harmonic Convergence is upon us._ ' Kori spoke to Raava as she closed her eyes and focused.

' _Yes, and I shall aid you._ ' Kori's eyes glowed as she took a step out towards the ice, growing in size exponentially. Soon she was a blue astral figure the same size as Azog's.

" **Such power is wasted on you human.** " Azog spoke as he lunged at her.

Kori ducked under his arms and kicked his stomach, sending him further into the lake. "No, it is wasted on you." She ran after him, using air bending to throw his punch high and giving her another hit on his chest. She jumped back to avoid a kick and threw a fire punch at the orc, singing his skin.

"Useless." Kori shivered at the dark voice. Azog fell to his knees as his astral form began to shrink. Once the purple being was gone, a dark purple spirit that looked like a darker version of Raava pulled away from the orc. "My battle is with you, Raava, and I don't need some simple being to defeat you!" His ribbons struck out faster than Kori could react. They dug into her chest, reaching for something.

Kori let out a cry as her astral form began to shrink. As her feet touched the ground she let out another cry, she felt a tearing in her soul. Vaatu let out a laugh as he continued to pull. With one last tug, Kori felt something break and Raava was pulled from her body. She let out a choke as she collapsed to the ground. The sensations in her body left her limp, it felt like she was battling herself.

A laugh brought Kori out of her body as she looked up to see Azog standing above her. " **Now to collect my first prize.** " He reached down towards her, but an arrow landing in his shoulder caused him to pause. He looked up in annoyance towards a group of three dwarves.

"Get away from her!" Kili shouted as he set another arrow onto his bow. Thorin and Fili had their swords out, ready to fight.

Azog let out another laugh as he stood up, yanking the arrow from his flesh. " **What can you do against me? Thror was no match for me. And Thrain was far too easy to break. Now I shall break you, Thorin, just like them.** " He stepped over the woman at his feet, placing himself between his enemy and his prize. " **Your head shall be my prize, just like the woman.** "

An arrow bounced off his shoulder, amusing him. He looked over as an elf glared death at him. "You will not lay a hand on her." Legolas sneered at the orc. He looked over at the three dwarfs for a brief moment. "I will look after Kori. I leave the Orc in your hands." He had another arrow in his hand as he began to slowly circle the orc, but the white creature was not paying attention to him.

Azog let out a laugh as he walked towards the dwarves. " **I shall wipe out your line in one swing.** "

Thorin took a deep breath as he adjusted the grip on his sword. He looked over at his nephews, he wished they had not come with him. "Together." They both looked at him with surprise. "We will do this together." He got a nod from both of them as he turned his attention back to the Orc. With a cry they began their attack on Azog the Defiler.

* * *

Legolas made a beeline for Kori once the Orc moved away from her. She looked to be in pain of some kind. "Kori, what is wrong?" He tried to hold her, but her skin flared with steering heat, yet the ice beneath her did not melt.

"Raava..." Kori whispered as she looked up at the fighting spirits. "She kept all of the elements in balance. Now they are all fighting for dominance." She shuddered as a wave of intense cold passed through her. Raava had warned her of this. With all of the knowledge and power the elements had inside of her, they had become sentient almost.

Legolas had never felt so helpless. "Hold on Kori, I will get help." He was about to move when Kori tried to get up, but only collapsed back onto the ice. "Hold still."

"I can't. I have to help." Kori again tried to get up, but her energy was being used by the elements waring inside of her. Her arms gave out again, but Legolas caught her. She let out a cough, small drops of blood where mixed in.

Legolas gripped Kori's arm bands, the only place he could touch. "You could die."

"Better to die trying than give up and die." Kori looked up at Legolas, she would not sit around and wait to die or see who won. Legolas gave a nod as he helped her to her feet, wrapping an arm around her waist for support. "I can't let it end like this." Her gaze was once again brought to the spirits of Oder and Chaos, their battle had brought them closer to the ground, their ribbons touching it. "That's it."

Legolas followed Kori's line of sight, but all there was was dust and snow being picked up by the wind. But he trusted her, so when she began shuffling in that direction, he helped her. He guessed there was more going on than what he could see. Especially when a large gust of air almost tossed them back. "Kori?"

"Just a little further." Kori held onto Legolas as the wind subsided. Raava and Vaatu where too entangled in themselves to have noticed the two coming towards them. Kori reached out and snagged one of Raava's ribbons, relief flooded her system as the spirit's ribbon wound around her arm. Instantly the spirit flew at Kori, merging into her body. "This is the end Vaatu." Kori spoke as she reached out and grabbed the spirit before allowing her soul to venture to the Spirit World.

* * *

Kori tossed the dark spirit away as she and Raava retuned to their astral from as the spirit gates connected themselves. Kori reached up and touched the glowing stream, renewing the bond between her and Raava's soul.

The Spirit of Chaos let out a yell as he grew in size. "I will not fall. This new world is mine. I am the stronger in this world." Vaatu flew at the astral form, meaning to pry Raava from the human's soul once more.

"I will not allow you to enslave them." Kori shouted as she held her hand up to block Vaatu, air bending a ball around him. "I think it is time to seal you once more." She concentrated as she pulled earth and water from the ground before adding her fire to the mix. "But this time I shall ensure you stay put." Lightning crackled as it joined into the circle. A ring of lava and metal soon joined it along with sand, blood, vines, and wood. "Every form of every element shall hold you here. Even the energy of your very being." Kori pushed the ball into the tree of time, sealing it with a door of spirit energy.

Kori released her astral form, falling to her knees in exhaustion. She felt a comforting wave of peace from Raava, merged with her soul once more. She shakily got back to her feet. "We aren't done yet." She let out a breath as she returned to her body, briefly wondering how she was able to use her bending in the spirit world.

* * *

The three dwarves battled the large Orc with great team work. Kili stayed back and shot arrows wherever he saw an opening. While Fili and Thorin worked on keeping Azog away form Kili and trying to bring him down with attacks of their own. But they were having little success. The Orc was covered with plates of metal and he was a skilled warrior as well.

Azog had a grin on his face as he battled, these dwarves were amusing him. His sword came down on the blond one, holding him in place. Thorin charged at him, but his club hand easily knocked him away. He continued his swing, knocking the blond back as well. He brought his sword up to strike down the dwarf.

"Fili!" Kili shouted as he reached towards his brother. His hand latched onto Azog's arm, trying to stop him. He was very shocked when the Orc backed away, holding an arm with a burn on it.

Azog growled as he looked at the burn he now sported. It was shaped perfectly like a hand. " **So, you are a fire wielder as well, runt.** " Azog raised his sword as he charged at the beardless dwarf. " **It will not save you!** "

Kili dove out of the way as Azog's sword bit into the ice. A gust of wind almost knocked him over, but as a dwarf his center of gravity helped him remain on his feet. He looked behind him, the two kite-looking spirits were now wrestling closer to the ground, but it seemed like the blue one was vanishing.

"Kili move!" Kili snapped out of his thoughts as Thorin shouted at him. He jumped back as a large metal ball landed where he had once stood. He followed the chain to Azog only standing a few feet away, the chain taunt. Azog pulled the ball back and spun in a circle. Kili flattened himself against the ground, the ball missing him.

Azog let out a laugh as he arched the ball back up and down towards the dwarf. " **Now you die!** "

"Kili!" Thorin shouted as he watched the spiked ball imbed itself into a dome of ice that now covered his nephew.

"Not today." Thorin let out a sigh as Kori stepped up beside the dome. She gathered a ball of air in her hand and launched it at Azog, sending the Orc flying. "I'll leave him to you Thorin." Thorin gave the woman's nod before heading back to his fight.

Kori dispelled the ice dome. "Need a hand?" Kori asked as she offered Kili her hand. The dwarf accepted the help.

Kili looked down at his hands, wondering what was happening to him. "What is going on?" He asked before looking at the Avatar.

Kori gave Kili a smile, she had felt the heat coming off of his skin. "You've just discovered fire bending." She laughed a bit when he stared at her in shock. "Kili, close your eyes. Find that little spark you have, your drive to do what you do. Hold onto it, add to it, let it grow and beat with your heart. Breath life into it, and tame it. Then all you need to do is focus on what you want this fire inside of you to do."

Kili took a deep breath as he searched within himself. Instantly his family came to mind, and as he remembered their faces and voice, the heat he felt within him grew. His eyes opened and he looked towards his uncle and brother fighting Azog. "Go get 'im." Without another word from the Avatar, Kili ran towards the fight.

Azog knocked Fili back, focusing on Thorin, his main prize. He was not expecting the punch to his side, nor the accompanying heat that came with it. He let out a growl as he backed away from the attack. His face twisted with anger as he caught sight of the beardless dwarf. " **You.** " He growled as he crouched to attack.

Kili stood still as Azog prepared to attack. He had always been fighting opponent larger than him, so this wasn't too daunting. He ducked under a slash from the Orc, delivering a kick to his stomach, fire coming out of the bottom of his foot. The Orc backed away, clutching his scorched stomach. "This ends here." Kili glared at the Orc as he threw a punch, shouting as a bright red flame shot out of his hand. It kept firing, like a firework until Kili finally stopped shouting and relaxed.

Fili let out a whistle as he placed a hand on his brothers shoulder. "Nice job Kili." Azog was nothing more than a piece of burnt firewood floating in a pool of water.

Kili let out a breath as his brother hugged him. "That felt good." He tensed a bit as another hand landed on his head.

Thorin gave his nephew a smile as he looked at him like a sheep. "You did well, Kili." He touched their foreheads, finally making Kili relax.

Fili ruffled Kili's hair once Thorin let him go. "Since when could you do that? That would have been good to know about a few months back ya know."

"I just learned about it today." Kili defended himself He looked down at his hand, remembering the feeling of the fire. "But it's strange, I don't feel any different."

"That's because all benders are born with the ability to manipulate the elements." Kori explained as she walked up to the small family. "You were born with the ability. You were just never able to use it." Kori paused as she thought of the bending cultures in her world and then comparing it to this world. "I wonder if the elements are going to be split between the races? I really hope orcs don't get one."

"Orcs aren't actually a race. They are made by turning other races dark, mostly elves." Legolas explained briefly.

"Avatar Kori." Thorin approached Kori with a question. "Will you teach Kili how to control his bending?"

Kori gave Thorin an instant smile. "Of course! I'm probably going to have to teach a lot of people how to use their bending abilities since no one has ever had them before. But I will definitely make sure Kili can use his bending to the best of his abilities."

"How do you know there are going to be more benders?" Fili asked, wondering why only his brother got a new ability.

"Well, your world is now connected to the Spirit World." Kori explained, but the confused looks told her they didn't understand. "It was the spirits that originally gave the power of bending to my people. So it makes sense that since your world can now receive spirits that you also now get benders."

"Are you all done talking yet?" They all looked over as Dwalin watched them with his arms crossed. "We still have a war to fight."

Thorin let out a chuckle as he walked towards his old friend. "Let's go then."

* * *

Fighting! How was that? I'm not really sure how my battle scenes are, no one has really given me feedback on it.

And we are coming up on the end of the story. I'm thinking of writing a sequel to cover the LOTR books, but I'm not sure if y'all would want that. Plus I have other stories I want to get done. But keep in mind that there is a possibility for a sequel.

Maybe I will write it if I get enough reviews requesting one.


	19. Chapter 19

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

* * *

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

The battle did not last long after Azog was slain, the Orcs were defeated. And now the clean up of the battlefield had begun. Kori was helping to heal the wounded in the medical tent along with many elves and dwarves. She was glad the battle was over, and shocked that not one member of their company had been killed.

She took a break, having been healing for the past five hours. She found Kili and Fili sitting and smoking on the step of Erebor. "I like not feeling the cold." Kili commented as he looked over at Kori. "Apparently a few of Dain's men were spouting fire in the middle of battle. Looks like you have some more students."

Kori gave Kili a smile. "I guess fire bending goes to the dwarves then."

"We are called fire-people by the elves." Fili mentioned as he let the smoke out of his lungs.

Kori giggles as the smoke turned into a square. "Noted. Now to figure out where all of the other elements are going."

"I think I can help with that." Kori looked behind her as Bilbo walked up behind them. In his hand was a perfectly formed water sphere. "Neat little trick, isn't it?"

"Water bending to the hobbits then." Kori wondered why water went to a person like Bilbo. Was it something to do with Hobbits? "And I have a feeling air bending is going to go to the elves."

"Why's that?" Kili asked.

"I can't really picture them doing the stiff, rigid moves of earth bending." Kori said honestly. it was much easier to see them doing the swift fluid motions of air bending.

"I do believe you are right." Kori noticed Kili instantly brighten at the female voice. Tauriel stood at the bottom of the stairs, still dressed in her battle gear.

"Tauriel, are you alright?" Kili asked in worry. He had not seen her since they parted at the edge of the lake.

Tauriel gave Kili a smile, rubbing a finger over the stone in her hand. "I am fine." She turned her head as a sneeze over came her, sending a gust of wind in the direction of her sneeze. "I'm sorry." She apologized seeing the earth gouged out by the force of her sneeze.

"Called it!" Kori stated while pumping her fist into the air. "So that leaves Earth bending to the race of men. Now all I need to do is get the school set up."

"Where is it going to be?" Kili didn't want to be too far away. He would miss his brother and everyone else too much. But he was glad Tauriel would be there with him.

"Thorin said I could use Raven Hill." Kori had been shocked when Thorin had told her to use the outpost. Said it hadn't really been in use when his grandfather was king. And he doubted any force could make it past them if they dared attack. "It'll take a day to rebuild, but it should work out quite well."

The sound of a horse pulled them from their conversation. Kori's eyes lit up as she spotted Legolas on top of the horse. She excused herself and ran towards the horse. Legolas jumped off of the horse and held her tightly as she ran into his arms. As they pulled apart, he tilted her face and placed his lips over hers in a kiss.

When they broke their kiss, Kori just looked up at him with a smile. "Do you really have to go?" After the battle had ended, Legolas had told her of plans her had to go and find someone. She had given her support, since she would be tied down with her school. But she was still sad to see him go.

"Aye." Legolas traced her cheek with his thumb. He mesmerized her face, knowing it might be a while before he would see her again. "But I promise, I will return to you."

Kori nodded as she fought her tears, she hated goodbyes. "Just don't be gone too long. I'm not a patient person." She forced a smile. Really she was worried she would die. Since for all she knew she was part of the race of men, so he would outlive her by hundreds, if not thousands, of years.

Legolas understood what she really meant. "I will not be long. I wish you good fortunes with your school." He bent down and gave her one more kiss.

Kori was breathless when Legolas pulled away from her, going back to his horse. "Be safe." All she got was a nod before he rode off. She let out a sigh as he became smaller as he rode away. She turned back and found the entire company smiling at her. "Mind your own damn business." She crossed her arms and looked away as a few of the older ones chuckled at her reaction.

"Kori," Thorin spoke up, gaining everyone's attention. "When do you plan to start building your school?"

Kori looked up at the sun, she had about six hours before sunset still. "I've got nothing else to do the rest of the day. Do you have the original building plans? It'll help lay out where the ground is stable and how far I can tunnel."

Balin scratched his chin wondering where those plans might be. They kept all of the building plan. The questions was where it was stored, and how good it's condition was. "We would have to look for it. But I'm sure you won't have a problem figuring all of those things for yourself."

"Alright then. I'm off. See you guys at dinner." She gave them a wave before launching herself into the air with air bending and flying away with fire bending.

Kili watched in amazement as Kori flew towards Raven Hill. "I am learning how to do that as soon as possible."

Fili laughed remembering how much trouble Kili had had just lighting their pipes. "No practicing indoors please. We don't need you burning the place down." He chuckled as Kili sent a glare at him.

"Once Kori has finished building the school, her students will be living there until their training is complete." Thorin could see that Fili was shocked by the news, Kili had not told him yet.

Kili got a pointed look from his uncle. He laid a hand on Fili's shoulder. "It's for the best Fee. I won't have to worry about accidentally hurting anyone. Plus I won't have to walk to Raven Hill and back everyday. It's also where I'll be spending most of my time." He could see Fili panicking a little in his shocked state. "Don't worry, I'll come visit as often as I can."

Fili shook his head at his own reaction. "We've never really been apart, have we?"

"We aren't kids anymore Fee." Kili hugged his brother. "Being independent is just part of growing up."

Fili let out a sigh as he hugged his brother back. "When did you get so wise, Kee? I thought I was he older brother." He chuckled as they stepped apart.

"I was given power." Kili brought a small flame to life in his hand. It pulsed in his hand, warm and pure. "The power to take down my enemies, but it can also harm those I care about." He closed his hand, letting the flame die out. "It's kind of sobering."

Thorin placed his hands on a shoulder of his two nephews. "It always is. Come, we should go help inside." He ushered the two towards the gate of their home. "We have a lot to do before winter sets in."

* * *

Kori walked back into the mountain just after the sun had set. The sound of laughter and talking drew her to the dinning hall, it must be dinner. Kori settled Thorin and everyone else sitting at a table at the front of the room. She made her way to the table happily. "Looks like you all had a good day."

"Welcome back!" They all greeted as she joined their table. Soon she had a full plate in front of her and was laughing with them all.

"So," Thorin spoke up. "How is Raven Hill?"

Kori could see everyone was interested in the topic that had been brought up. "I've reconnected the two sides and restored everything that was still standing. I've also added more to the structure to make more room, including a larger area that crosses over the water. I've also tunneled down and added more room below. I can probably fit at least 400 students." She bit into a deer leg as everyone stared at her in shock. "I had six hours, I can get a lot done in six hours."

"Maybe we should have kept her here. We might be done by now." Dwalin joked remembering how few tunnels they had cleared out that day.

"Anything you need?" Thorin asked as he focused on Kori. True they could use her help, but the men Dain had left where a bit antsy about their new abilities. And they weren't getting along with the elves.

"Bedding and blankets." So far that was the only thing Kori could come up with. "We can get wood from the surrounding forest. Tonight would be best to stay here though. But anyone who will be a student can move in tomorrow."

"Can you start teaching tomorrow as well?" Thorin hoped Kori would understand why he was asking her such a question. He could see Dain's men watching them.

"I can." Kori spoke, noting Thorin's distracted gaze. Her only guess could be some people weren't getting along. And with people just learning they have the power to move the elements, it could get dangerous. "Sorry for taking away your working hands."

Thorin shook his head to dissuade her from apologizing any further. "We will manage."

"This is going to be great." Kili spoke up enthusiastically. "What will we learn first? Flying?"

"Take it down a notch hotshot." Kori chuckled at Kili's excitement. "What I had you doing on the battlefield was basic. You were already angry and had quite a bit of built up emotions. For fire benders the real test is to create fire without emotion. Emotions let you make hotter fire, doing the same without emotion is the true test of your skills.

And then there is the physical part of it. You can't be a good bender if you don't have your body tuned to the task." Kori smirked as she flexed the muscles on her arms. "The strength of your bending comes from the strength of your body."

"That sounds like my training." Dwalin let out a bark of laughter. No wonder he got along with her so well. "What do you have set up?"

"I didn't really have to set up anything." Kori picked up a slice of meat pie and took a bite. "Raven Hill is a perfect place to train benders. The cliff face allows for all benders to test their skills at climbing it. And there is also a path that goes around the lake as well." She finished the pie and picked up a sausage. The food was really good.

"Do you plan on spreading word of your school? I'm sure there are more than just the people here that have discovered the power of bending." Thorin looked around the hall once more. He wanted to speak with Gandalf before he left. But it looked like the wizard was already gone.

"Gandalf said he would help with that." Kori had seen the wizard ride away just before the sun began to set. He was probably staying at Beorn's for the night.

Bilbo set his cup down on the table. "Kori, how long should it take to learn how to bend?" He hoped not to long. He had had to decline Gandalf's offer to see him home, since he wanted to know he could control his new abilities and not end up blood bending on accident.

"A year at minimum." Kori could see Bilbo relax at her answer. "And about 10 to master, but some people take less time and some more. It's different form person to person.

"A year works for me." Bilbo said looking down into his cup. "I miss my home, and I want to get back as soon as I can." He looked up and found everyone in the company looking a little sad.

"We'll miss ya when yur gone." Bofur spoke what everyone else was probably thinking. They had gotten used to the big footed fellow that was their friend.

Bilbo felt his eyes tearing up. "And I will miss all of you."

"Let's not get too emotional." Kori spoke up as she blinked away tears. "We have to get through winter first. Then you can start crying about how much you're going to miss each other. And it's not like you can't write to each other either." She chuckled with the others.

Thorin picked his tankard up. "Aye, let's hope we all make it to spring." Their laughs renewed themselves as they toasted.

* * *

And now we get a time skip. Any guesses for how long it is going to be?

And I know I have made no mention of the Arkenstone. At least I don't think I did. Correct me if I am wrong. Basically, assume he was given the stone back after the battle by Bilbo. And it will sit above the Throne. So if I did not, that is what happened. If I did, ignore that, and let me know.

Thank you all for reading!


	20. Chapter 20

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

* * *

"Talking"

' _Thinking_ '

" **Blackspeech** "

* * *

~10 Years later~

Summer was in full swing and the Summer Festival had taken over the streets of Dale. Even the grounds outside of the city were covered in a multitude of Festival tents. Food stalls and games were spread out in between shops.

Kori smiled as she walked around the festival. Today she was dressed in Fire Nation clothing. Or at least what she could remember it looking like. Her pants where black and puffed around her ankle where it was tucked inside of her boots. Her halter top was cropped short, perfect for the heat of the day. And her arm bands were replaced with gold circlets with a matching pair around her wrists with chains connected to rings on her ring fingers. She had a vest on as well, but it was left open to allow air through her clothes more easily. The emblem of the Fire Nation was sewn onto the back of the jacket in golden thread, a gift from Dori for her birthday.

"Is everything ready?" Kori looked beside her and found Thorin looking at a silk stall. Thorin wasn't looking to buy anything, but this silk was the best he had seen come through Dale since Esgaroth had been rebuilt 5 years ago. "Does Kili even know what is happening today?"

"I hope he knows." Kori commented as she walked beside Thorin through the festival. "He's been ready for this since the spring." She paused as she caught sight of someone yelling at one of her students. Her students all wore their uniforms unless they chose otherwise. And the little water bending hobbit looked uncomfortable. "Who is that?" She glared at the dwarf that was yelling as she walked towards them.

She stepped between the two and glared down at the Dwarf. "And who are you to step in? You ought to take a bath before stepping into public."

Kori could feel a vein pulse on her forehead. "This is the color of my skin. Now tell me why my student is in tears."

The dwarf ran his hand through his grey beard as he studied the woman standing in front of him. "So you're the teacher? I have heard much about you, teaching dwarves how to fight with fire instead of weapons."

"Weapon's training is optional." Kori noted as she watched the dwarf. "And who are you?"

"Master Kofur, what brings the Battlemaster of the Iron Hills this far west?" Thorin stepped in before the two started throwing punches. He noticed his cousin walk over from a food stall nearby. "And Dain is here as well?"

"Am I not allowed to visit?" Dain asked as before taking a bite out of a leg of mutton. "Is this hard ass giving you trouble?" He chuckled as Kofur gave him an unamused look. "You're looking well Avatar Kori."

Kori gave the red head a small smile. "As are you lord Dain." She had shooed off her student, letting her go find her friends again while Thorin drew Kofur's attention. But now her attention was solely on the dwarf Battlemaster. "What brings you two here? The Tournament was yesterday."

"None of your students made it very far." Kofur scoffed remembering the tourney the previous day. Two men had been the final opponents. "And I doubt they could hold their own against my students. Steel and instincts win every time."

"Is that a challenge?" Kori asked with a grin. "You know I didn't allow any of my advanced students to compete, it wouldn't have been fair. But if you mean to kick dirt at their skill, let them defend it first."

"Your best student against my best student?" Kofur offered, getting a wider grin from the woman. "Not unless it's a dwarf. Otherwise you can't claim it to be fair."

Kori let out a chuckle. "My best student just so happens to be a dwarf. And even if they weren't, I would still insist."

Kofur laughed as he remembered how he found the little water wielder. The girl had been dancing around as she pulled a ribbon of water behind her. "Fine. My student will fight your little fire dancer."

"Careful Kofur, that's my nephew you're talking about." Thorin had a grin on his face. Kili had excelled at fire bending, like he had been born to do it.

Kofur frowned as he remembered the King's nephews. "Fili?" He asked, it did seem to fit the blond's personality.

"Nope." Dain replied as he swallowed a mouthful of meat. "The other one." He looked over at Kori and Thorin with a grin. "Today's the day isn't it?" He hadn't explained why he had wanted to come all the way to Dale for the festival, but he didn't want to miss out on this family event.

Kori smiled, Dain was a very family orientated guy. "You bet it is. That's why I made sure to wear my Fire Nation clothes. I'll go and get him while you all get the arena set up." She waved off as she ran off. The sun was about an hour away from it's peak. She wanted to end Kili's Master ceremony when his power would be at it's strongest.

She found Kili with his brother and Tauriel playing a game. They were tossing hoops and trying to make them land around the neck of bottles. Kili seemed to be doing very well while Fili was having a bit of trouble. Tauriel was standing back and giggling while the two taunted each other playfully.

"Mind if I interrupt?" Kori spoke up as she walked to them. They all gave her a smile as they greeted her.

"Just beating Fee at a small game." Kili ducked under his brother's attempt to get him into a headlock. They didn't really see each other much with Kili's training and Fili learning from Thorin to rule Erebor. "Why are you in fire today?" Kori had an outfit for each element, but this one seemed more formal than what she usually wore. Especially since she was wearing the gift Dori had given her a few years ago.

"Because today is a special day." Kori laughed a bit as Kili fixed up his clothing. "And we have a few things to do today as well."

"What's going on?" Kili asked as he looked at the other two in his group, but they seemed as lost as him. "Is there training today? I thought you gave everyone the week off because of the festival."

"I did, but this isn't training." Kori corrected as she waved for them to follow her. "Master Kofur has given us a challenge, his best student verses my best student." She looked over at Kili with a smirk.

Kili stopped mid step. "Me? I'm the best?" He didn't believe it, but judging by the look of utter confidence Kori had, he assumed so.

Kori had expected this a bit, Kili had always thought so lowly of himself. "Your level is far above everyone else's. Your instincts have put you there, and you know that." She looked over at Tauriel with a small smile. "Tauriel is a close second."

"So Kili gets to test his bending skill in a spar." Fili patted his brother's shoulder. They still sparred, but with weapons.

"With a non-bender." Kili added with a bit of worry. "I've never done that."

Kori stepped towards him, knowing what he was worried about. "Treat it like a normal spar. Everyone is vulnerable to fire, even fire benders. It'll be either Dwalin or Dain calling the match. It'll be to three hits."

Kili nodded. "Alright. So when is the match?" He hoped he had a few hours to prepare, this was rather sudden.

"Now probably. I want it done before noon." Kori laughed as Kili began panicking about the time. "Come on, the arena isn't far."

It only took about ten minutes to reach the arena and go into the tent that Kili would use to prepare. He hand changed his formal shoes for his boots and retouched his pants. He removed one of his vest layers and left it wrapped around his waist as a belt. He then set about unwrapping and rewrap ping his wrists.

"Nervous?" Fili asked as he watched his brother. Kili just nodded as he continued with his wrapping. "There are a lot of people here to watch. I can see Uncle Thorin and Mother out there too."

"You're not helping!" Kili shouted at his brother, but all Fili did was laugh. Kili let out a sigh as Kori massaged his tense shoulders. "Kofur is the best Battle Master this side of the Misty Mountains. His fully trained students are unbeatable."

Kori stepped around Kili and looked down a t him with a confident smirk. "Then let's show him what we've got. Show them that Kili, son of Vili can break steel."

Fili smiled as Kili sat up with a bit more confidence. He pulled his brother to his feet and hugged him tightly. "You got this Kee."

"We'll be cheering you on." Tauriel pulled Kili into a hug once Fili let him go. She gave him a quick kiss. "Good luck." With that she and Fili went out to take their seats in the stands.

Kili took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I can do this." He told himself as he turned to face the door of the tent. A loud horn blew, signaling for the fighters to enter the arena.

Kori stepped up besdie Kili. "Ready?" When he gave her a nod she pulled the tent flap back and they walked out into the bright sun that shone down on the arena. The crowd cheered loudly. They could make out Kofur and his student walking out form their own tent, and Dain standing in the middle of the arena.

They stopped with a few feet between them and Dain in the middle. Kori chuckled as she took account of how much taller she was than everyone else on the field. "I'm very conscious about my height right now. And usually I'm the shortest in the room." She could hear Kili containing his laughter beside her.

"The challenge was issued!" All attention was brought to Dain as he spoke loudly. "The best student from Master Kofur's Battle School, versus the best student from Avatar Kori's Academy!"

Kofur took a step forward and faced the crowd. "This is Gunther, son of Gunner. He has been training under me for the past 20 years. He has mastery of all weapons he has laid his hands on." Kofur and Gunther bowed to the crowd before facing Kili and Kori.

Kori cleared her throat before facing the crowd. "This is Kili, son of Vili. He has trained under me for the past 10 years. He has mastered everything I have to teach him." She noted Kili's shocked face as she spoke her last statement. She could see the gears slowly turning in his head.

"Thank you, Master Kofur, Avatar Kori." Dain thanked them both once they had finished with the formalities. The two master then walked towards the stand to take their seats. "Combatants, take you position." He took several paces back as the two prepared to battle. Be looked over at Dwalin and gave him the signal to ring the starting gong.

* * *

Kori watched with a smile as Kili danced away from Gunther's duel bladed staff. The dwarf had certainly chosen a weapon that not many would know how to defend against. She heard Kofur let out a huff beside her. "He's scared, running away from the blade. Are those metal bracelets just for show?" Kori shook her head at the dwarf, he wasn't paying attention.

"He may be avoiding the attacks, but there is something you are missing." Kori smirked as Kofur watched the two combatants carefully. "He's getting real close, isn't he?" She chuckled as Kofur realized what she was on about, Kili was easily getting past Gunther's guard. And to credit Gunther, he was doing well with avoiding Kili's smaller attacks. "Kili has mastered everything I have to teach him."

"You are putting your honor on the line with this battle." Kofur noted while crossing his arms, wondering who would win this challenge.

"I have faith in Kili." Kori's smile doubled as Kili landed a kick to Gunther's side, knocking him back.

"ONE!" Dain called out from the sidelines. The challenge was to three hits.

Kori happily lounged back. "Two more hits to go." She was confident, Kili was good at thinking on his feet.

"Do not be over confident. Anything can happen." Kori rolled her eyes at the older dwarf's attitude. She watched with a smile as Kili landed a punch on Gunther's shoulder, knocking the dwarf down as Dain called the second hit. "He's strong."

Thorin chuckled as he listened to the two talk. "My family has always been strong, Master Kofur. And Kili is no exception." He couldn't help the smile that was on his face, Kili had really grown in the past 10 years.

Kori chewed her lip as the two engaged again. Gunther seemed to be more weary of Kili, and Kili was now the one on the defensive. Kili danced away from Gunther and his opponent seemed just fine with the distance. She met Kili's gaze from across the field, and she knew his question. She gave him a single nod, he had her permission.

Kili relaxed his stance, focusing on his breathing and directing the heat towards his hands.

Kori watched carefully as Kofur began to chuckle. "Is he giving up?"

Kofur paused as Kori began to chuckle. "No, but I believe I will have to repay your student for their weapon." She held back a full laugh as Kofur stared at her in bewilderment. She watched as Gunther charged at Kili and Kili just stood still. Gunther swung at Kili, meaning to land a hit but guessing he would most likely dodge. In an instant Kili's hand came up and stopped the blade in it's tracks. "When metal heats and cools too quickly and repeatedly, it breaks." In a loud snap the blade shattered to pieces.

The crowd was silent as they all processed what had just happened. Dain broke the silence with his verdict. "THREE! Winner Kili, son of Vili!" The crowd erupted into cheers at the conclusion of the battle as the gong rang out through the air.

Kori followed Kofur down to the arena to congratulate Kili on his victory. He had been practicing that move for almost two years now. He first realized he could pull heat from other objects when he tried cooling off a kettle of tea as an experiment. She was glad he had found some use for his ability.

She approached Kili with a large smile on her face. "You did well, Kili." Kili had a large grin on his face.

"What was that?!" Both of them looked over as Kofur growled at his student. "You looked like a little girl not a warrior. He was dancing around you!"

"Careful Kofur, little girls are tougher than you think." Kori warned the dwarf, his student had done well.

Kofur turned his glare to the human woman. "Oh really? You wouldn't last a minute against me."

Kori got a mad grin on her face at Kofur's challenge. She noticed Kili inch away as the air tensed around her. "Would you like to test that theory?" Kori shrugged her vest off and tossed it at Kili. Kili took off running as soon as he had the vest in his hand. She looked over at Gunther with a serious look. "Leave if you don't want to get caught in the middle of this."

Kofur frowned as Gunther ran off after Kili. "They run like cowards." He cracked his knuckles and his neck, if she was fighting with no weapons then so would he.

Dain was confused at the sudden tension that was filling the arena. "What's going on?" He asked Kili as he stopped beside him.

"Master Kofur challenged Avatar Kori to a duel." Kili spoke as he spun back around to watch the match. "And I have a feeling she might use her full strength." Kori hadn't used her full strength before, not even during the war. "Dwalin, sound the gong." At a nod from the warrior the gong rang out again and the crowd cheered at the extra match they got to witness.

Kori easily avoided all of Kofur's attacks, he was fast but predictable. "Are you scared?" Kofur taunted her.

Kofur's fist was stopped by Kori's hand. "Not a chance." Kori grinned as the wind picked up around them. She slipped into the Avatar state, letting the elements rage around her. The earth shook beneath their feat as the air grew heavy and hot. Kofur's leg began to shake as the air thinned around them. "This isn't even half of my power. I could make the ground lava, remove the air from your lungs, or strike you down with a bolt of lightning. The elements are not forces you can beat into submission, but they are certainly the strongest weapon one can ever learn to control."

The moment Kofur's knees touched the ground, the wind let up and the earth stilled. The arena was quiet as the elements settled back into their natural state. The ring of the gong was the only thing to disturb the silence. "Winner, Avatar Kori!" Dain's voice easily carried across the field.

Kofur let out a bark of laughter, startling a few people. "You're certainly tougher than you look." Kofur got up and dusted his knees before giving Kori a grin. "If your students are half as capable as you are, then they've earned my respect."

"If any of them are half as stubborn as you, then I pity anyone that angers them." Kori joined Kofur in his laughing, they seemed to have found common ground. "Now, I just got one more job to do on this field."

Kofur nodded as he began walking away. "Then I'll get off your field."

Kori waited as the crowd quieted once more, waiting to see what she would do. "Today marks the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year, and the day that fire benders are at their strongest. And today there is much to celebrate. Today we welcome a new Master of Fire." The crowd continued it's silence as Kori focused in on her graduating student. "Kili, son of Vili, come forth."

Kili gave a gulp as he got out of his seat and walked out onto the field. He could feel everyone watching him as he walked out to the middle of the field and stood across from Kori. He had figured that he was graduating when she mentioned he had mastered everything she had to teach him. But he hadn't anticipated that there was a ceremony. Or that it would be in front of so many people.

Kori gave Kili a comforting smile, he looked nervous. "Kili, I have taught you everything I know about fire bending. You have the discipline and ingenuity to continue your studies on your own, because you never stop learning. Are you ready to accept the Master's Challenge?" She got a nod from the dwarf and stepped into her fire stance. "Then show me what you have learned."

Kori stayed still as Kili stepped into his own form of the fire stance. They both focused as flames danced at their feet. Kori was first to act, jumping into a twist kick. Kili spun away and stepped into a fire kick. Kori ducked under the flame and came up delivering a series of punches. Kili knocked them away and retaliated with swings of his own.

Kori jumped back, down testing his close combat skills, and created a ball of fire and threw it at him, keeping a string attached to it for control. Kili allowed the ball to pass by him and grabbed onto the string, trying to off balance Kori. A smirk crawled across her face as she rolled forward while sending a plume of fire up the chain, knowingly burning Kili's hand. She watched his hand as the red skin became coated in a soothing white flame.

The smile did not leave Kori's face, she could see Kili's fighting style starting to show itself. She straightened out as she prepared to give him his final test. One hand pointed down as another was pointed out behind her. Sparks began dancing across her body, building itself as she watched Kili prepare to intercept her lightning. Redirecting lightning was dangerous, but if succeeded there were three options; send it at someone, send it to the sky, or send it into the earth.

' _Choose well._ ' Kori thought as she lunged forward, sending the bolt of lighting at her student. She watched as Kili successfully caught the bolt and contained it. He took a deep breath as he dug both of his fingers into the ground, grounding the electricity. She smiled at his choice, it had the lowest chance of hurting someone. Straightening again, Kori formed a small blue flame in the palm of her hand and stood in the first position of the Dragon Dance.

* * *

Thorin frowned as he watched the end of Kili's match. It looked like he and Kori were dancing. "What are they doing?" He looked over at Tauriel, another of Kori's students.

"It's called the Dragon Dance." Tauriel explained as she watched the dance. She had seen the fire benders practicing it, but never with fire. "It a ceremonial dance that all of the fire benders learn."

"Their flames are becoming dragons." Fili said in awe as a blue and orange dragon began to form from the flames the Kori and Kili had created. The dragons danced with the two, in harmony with them. As the two neared each other, the two dragons spun around each other before bursting into sparkling embers. "Is that it? Is it done?"

"Well done, Kili, son of Vili, Fire Master of the Dwarves." The crowd cheered at Kori's announcement. She then placed a hand on Kili's shoulder before leading him back to their tent.

"We should go congratulate him." Thorin said as he got up from his seat. Kili was the first to receive the title of Fire Master. He had never discussed with Kori what that would mean, but he guessed he could discuss it with Kili now.

They all made their way to the small tent and found the two relaxing inside. "That was amazing!" Fili exclaimed as he pulled his brother into a tight hug.

"Thanks Fee." Kili returned his brother hug happily. He then found himself face to face with his uncle.

Thorin stepped towards Kili with a large smile on his face. He held their foreheads together. "I'm proud of you Kili." He chuckled as Dis got between them and held Kili tightly. "We're all proud of you."

"My little baby is all grown up." Dis spoke as she held Kili's face in her hands. His light stubble that he had had when she had first gotten to Erebor was now becoming a full beard, still too short to braid though. She perked up as she looked over at Kori. "Will he get a mastery tattoo?"

Kili perked up at the thought. "Can I?" He knew of many skills that got tattoo once the level of master was reached. And with how new bending still was to Middle Earth, it wasn't too late to add tradition to it, unless something already existed.

Kori shrugged at the question. "In my world only the air nomads got tattoos when they became master's, but I don't see why not. This isn't that world. We will just have to design one."

Kili nodded wondering what they could do for the tattoo, but another thought entered his mind. "So, what happens now?"

Kori understood the rest of his question. "Now you have a choice, leave and learn through experiences, or stay and learn by teaching others. Leaving means devoting yourself to helping others and possibly never returning to Erebor. Staying means you will be in charge of the fire benders and will probably never leave Erebor."

"That's intense." Kili said as he sat back down on the bench he had been sitting on before Fili had pulled him into a hug. "But an easy choice, I'm staying." He could see the relief on his mother and Tauriel's face as he answered. "So I get to teach all 64 fire benders?"

Kori nodded. "I'll stil be around to help, but you will be their main instructor."

"It still amazes me that you all fit inside Raven Hill." Thorin shook his head, the school didn't look that big from the outside.

"I've expanded it a lot over the years. And since a good portion of the students only stay till they have full control, it's never that full." Kori had also expanded into the lake with a few meditation rooms. "And I will have more time to gather students once I have named a master in the other three elements. I've almost got my air and earth master's at testing level." She eyed Tauriel, the elf still had a few things to learn.

"Why did you name me a master?" Kili asked. "I know you don't have anything else to teach me, but is that the only reason?"

Kori crossed her arms and gave Kili a challenging smirk. "When you find the answer to your question, you can give someone the title of master." She got up from her seat and stretched before putting her vest back on. "Now then, let's get that tattoo sorted out. We need to figure out something that will be acceptable, it's about to become tradition."

* * *

Alright, one more chapter. Any guesses on when this one will take place? (Hint: it's before LOTR starts.)


	21. Chapter 21

I do not own The Hobbit or Avatar: The Last Airbender.

* * *

~20 years later~

Kori looked from her map up to the round green door. According to the map Balin had given her, and everyone she had asked on the road, this was her destination. She walked through the gate and up to the door that was shorter than herself. She knelt down and knocked on the door and waited, a small glowing mark twinkling at her ankle.

"Frodo, can you get the door?" Kori smiled at the familiar voice that called from the other side of the door.

The door opened and a boy with large feet and curly dark hair opened the door. "Good day. How can I help you?"

Kori gave the boy a smile. "Avatar Kori, at your service." She added a small bow of her head as she spoke, a dwarvish custom she had gotten accustomed to.

"Um...Frodo Baggins, at yours." The boy hesitantly spoke back with a bow of his own, unused to the gesture.

"Is Bilbo around?" Kori asked, hearing the shuffling of feet behind the boy. She smiled as the hobbit she was seeking pulled the door open wider and smiled gladly at her. "Hello Bilbo."

"Kori!" Bilbo exclaimed as he walked forward and embraced the young woman. "You haven't aged a day. It's been almost 30 years since I last saw you. Come, come have some tea and cakes." Bilbo waved the woman in and led her into his kitchen with his large table. "How's the school doing? I felt so bad not being able to make it for the Mastery Ceremonies. Especially Kili and Tauriel's, and then Tilda's, I'm sorry."

Kori waved off Bilbo's apologies. "No one blames you, you live the furthest away. And now with my Master of Water I have the freedom to seek out students myself."

"Ah yes, Lily Took was it?" Bilbo set a kettle onto the stove for some tea as he grabbed a basket of cakes and muffins. "I'm assuming you got my letter then?"

"I did." Kori picked up a muffin and pulled the top off before taking a bite. "I thank you for the letter and for the suggestion. Sadly I don't think there will be a second Master of Water for another few years. But once I have one I will be sure to send them here. I've already sent a Master of Fire to the Blue Mountains. And a Master of Air to Rivendale."

"Uncle Bilbo, are you talking about the others that can do your water tricks? Like Sam?" Frodo asked as he stuffed a cake into his mouth. His uncle's cooking was the best.

Bilbo chuckled at the child's question. "Perhaps." The kettle whistled behind him on the stove. He reached out and pulled the water out, bringing it over and splitting it into their tea filled cups. "I've been practicing at parties. The children love them." He noticed Kori laugh a bit less this time as she stared at her tea. "Is there another reason you stopped by? After all, you have to pass through three elven kingdoms to get here."

Kori let out a sigh as Bilbo found one of her worries. "It's been 30 years Bilbo. 15 since his last letter." She set her head down on the table with another sigh. "I'm worried about him, but I know he is alright. I just miss him. How can I miss him this much? I didn't even know him that well." She frowned as she poked her muffin, lighting it on fire. "Part of me hates him for being gone so long."

Bilbo sighed as he dropped a ball of water on the burning muffin. He then placed a hand over her's in comfort. "It will be alright. Things will work out if they are meant to."

Kori sat up and took a drink of her warm tea happily. "You're right." She set her cup down and got up from the table. "I should get going. It's a long trip back to Raven Hill."

Bilbo got up from his seat with a small jump of excitement. "I'll lead you around to collect everyone."

"Thank you Bilbo." Kori followed the Hobbit out of his home and into the warm spring air.

"It's what friends are for." He led her out of his yard and down the road. "And who knows, maybe you will see Legolas again. Maybe even go on an adventure with him."

"I don't know about an adventure, the last one nearly killed me." Kori chuckled with Bilbo at their little joke. "But if I do see him again, I don't know if I will kill him, ignore him, or kiss him."

"Maybe just jump him?" Bilbo offered jokingly. The looked on Kori's face was priceless.

"BILBO!" Kori shouted, but it soon turned into laughter. The hobbit certainly knew how to joke.

* * *

And that's a wrap. I know it's short, but I wanted to get this out of the way before I start on the next part.

Stay tuned for the second part of this tale. Although it might be a while before I start posting it. There are a few things I need to rework.

And for all of you wondering what is up with Kori and her not human aging, I will explain in detail in the next story. For now I will say she is not a human by Middle Earth's standards. Having her soul fused with a spirit's caused her to become something akin to the same race as Gandalf. (Note: NOT THE SAME RACE AS HIM! Just something similar.)

So, what did you think of the story? Is it even worth it to write the next story? Any guesses as to what will happen? Any guesses as to who will be the benders in the Fellowship? (Note: I gave one away.)

Till next time,

Kairi


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